From New York to California, Texas to Florida, the jury is in: site selection for renewable development isn't as easy as it needs to be. Selecting the wrong site can leave a project with red tape, expensive mitigation efforts, and pushback from surrounding communities. These delays mean losses for the developer, and renewable energy entering the grid at a slower rate. To create a clean, green future, it will be necessary to address a variety of concerns in the renewable energy industry – and quickly, especially if the U.S.hopes to hit the aggressive clean energy and carbon neutral goals set by the current administration. 

In 2023, Transect surveyed a wide swath of renewable developer clients to ask them about their development processes, trends, and concerns. The results were predictable but still alarming.

For instance, 86% said permits or regulations delayed their projects by three months or more. A full 60% said it takes at least a month to get a report back, and every respondent felt the pinch of the current land race. With issues like these, renewable development seems like an uphill battle, and selecting the right site is more imperative than ever.

Here are five of the most significant site selection concerns for developers.

1. Access to transmission lines

Survey respondents note transmission line access is a critical factor in site selection. Energy loss is a harsh reality during transmission; the longer power travels, the less power arrives at the destination. This reduces ROI for developers, and complicates our proposed reliance on renewable energy projects. Automated solutions that identify transmission line and substation locations are powerful tools to aid informed site selection. 

2. Local sentiment

Surprisingly, there is a significant amount of pushback on solar power development in the US. It’s easy to believe "everyone" loves the idea of clean energy, but communities in many parts of the country have raised issues such as land infringement, development noise, unsightly solar farms, and increased energy costs.

The issue is so pressing that 100% of respondents felt county sentiment would be valuable in site selection. While the effect of “Not in My Backyard” isn’t as dire as it's sometimes made out to be, highly visible solar energy sites (or onshore wind energy solutions of any kind) often generate concern. 

Even though a successful energy transition will mean lower emissions, more reliable power, and more energy storage, pushback on a solar project can remain. The ability to assess community sentiment when performing site selection is a critical need for developers. 

3. Protected waterways

Waters are heavily protected at the state and federal levels, both yielding their own permitting processes that follow detailed steps to ensure regulatory compliance. These extensive permitting requirements for a site can dictate the project timeline, and are often unidentified at the time of site selection.

According to the survey, 70% of respondents report using Google to research permitting and regulations for their site. This manual approach to research is a slow, inefficient, and often unreliable way to discover renewable power and sustainable energy sites. This process yields the risk of selecting a site with a variety of protected features, resulting in expensive mitigation efforts and potential multi-month delays. 

The race to grab viable land drives developers to purchase a site without performing extensive due diligence, or relying on inaccurate research to make decisions. As a result, 30% of real estate transactions fall through the cracks due to protected features, such as waters, surprising them on their site later in the development cycle.

4. Endangered species

From the wilderness to the suburbs, America is populated with more than 1,300 endangered or threatened species: plants and animals that may disappear forever if people don't take steps to protect them. Today, protection exists at the federal level via the Endangered Species Act and Migratory Bird Treaty Act, as well as at the state level.

Given the complexities of the permitting process and the importance of these regulations, species and their critical habitats appearing on a site can derail a project. In addition to their presence on a site, their habitats carry their own regulatory protections and demand specific consideration from renewable energy companies during development. Finding an unplanned species can significantly delay a project by weeks or months and come with costly mitigation efforts.

Early environmental due diligence and proper species surveys are the frontline defense developers can use to determine whether a site is suitable for energy generation. As state and federal regulations continue to evolve, staying up to date with current environmental restrictions is critical for successful project development.

5. Protected cultural sites

Survey respondents noted that protected cultural sites at the state, federal, and tribal levels are a rising concern when selecting a project site. The National Historic Preservation Act was passed to shelter these sites from development, which would erase history and separate modern humans from their ancestors, however unintentionally.

Several agencies exist to enforce the act's rules: State Historic Preservation Offices (SHPOs), National Historic Preservation Offices (NHPOs), and Tribal Historic Preservation Offices (THPOs) exist to ensure these protections continue. While this is an important mandate, it creates difficulty in finding development sites for the renewable energy sector.

Transect: The 30,000-Foot View

Site selection doesn't have to be a shot in the dark. As seen in the survey, project sites often hold more than meets the eye – a lesson many developers have learned the hard way. The better option is to leverage automation tools to assess risk for multiple sites all at once, and identify concerns before they appear on a site.

The Transect platform enables teams to identify multiple parcels that match their development criteria, and then evaluate suitable parcels for environmental risks, required permits, transmission lines, and county-level community sentiment toward solar within minutes.

Improved site selection can be a catalyst for reaching our renewable energy goals. These top five site concerns don’t have to cause surprise delays during the development process – there's a better way. Learn more about the Transect Platform or read the full survey report.