Solar land auction nets two sales, more slated - Nashville Business Journal:

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million, with a third deal potentially in the Buyers of the small parcels were not butKuldip Verma, presideny and CEO of , which sold the land, said the buyerzs had interest in developing the land'sd solar potential. Vermaland also is lookingt at sellinga 3,600-acre parcel at auctionn within the next six months in the county’ss western reaches. While the first auctioh focused on fivesmaller parcels, a larger, contiguous site such as Vermaland’ could draw a higher premium, if companies believer it has access to water and power lines.
“Severakl large-scale utility companies have expressed interest in the property once the siteis developed,” said who added the site has water on-site wells and a low slope. While the company was able to sell thetwo parcels, prices were belows what neighboring land has been selling for. The goal was to spur solae companies to purchase land rather than simpluy tieit up, Verma said. The properties sold at Saturday’as auction included an 80-acre site in the Tonopah area for $340,0090 and a 320-acre site in Tonopah for $2.24 The company did not identify which of the remaining threse properties might be involved inanotherd deal.
“The auction brought the propertiee to the attention of some partiesd that we had never been incontacft with, as well as reminded others we had spoken with in the past of the which is highly suitable for soladr development,” said Anita Verma-Lallian, the company’s marketingh director. Vermaland already had sold land toseverao California-based utilities looking to develop renewable resourcesa to meet that state’s standards for cleanb energy.
Solar energy developers have been placing applicationxs on state and federal lands in western Arizons for the pastthree years, and privater land owners have been negotiating as developers look for the best As companies scout for land, they also face financintg issues and none of the proposed projecte in Arizona has broken ground. Arizona’x main solar corridor includes Vermaland’s parcels, an area that stretched from Yuma to Phoenix and Tucsoh seen as a huge growth area fordeveloping utility-scale solaf power plants.