Renewables

As the demand for renewable energy resources accelerates, CEC is well-equipped to help your team respond to growth opportunities. CEC’s experts offer a wide range of innovative solutions and power industry expertise from coast to coast and the Gulf to the Great Lakes.

CEC has a firm understanding of the solar project development process and has provided related services throughout the U.S. We have supported projects from 1-MW commercial canopies and rooftop systems to 12-MW ballasted landfill systems, to solar farms of over 3,000 acres and more than 500 MW.

CEC staff has supported wind energy developers for over two decades. Our Endangered Species Act compliance experts help clients find regulatory pathways that provide certainty for implementing projects. Our ecological professionals ensure that the best available science is incorporated into threatened and endangered species assessments; monitoring programs; and development of innovative avoidance, minimization, and mitigation measures.

CEC is a team player that can tackle either specialized parts of your project like cultural, ecological, survey, or geotechnical or handle the full site development process from due diligence to civil engineering design and construction.

CEC’s solar project development services cover the project life cycle from critical issues analysis, through conceptual design and permitting, to construction and project completion. We have experience with canopy, rooftop, ground-mount, ballasted, and single-axis tracker systems for community to utility-scale projects. Our solar development experts work with developers, owners/operators, regulators, utility companies, and other stakeholders to support diverse projects nationwide.

CRITICAL ISSUES ANALYSIS

Involving a professional consulting team in the early stages of a project, ideally before a project site is being negotiated with the landowner, can help you avoid missteps. CEC taps a vast network of knowledge, data, and contacts to provide early-stage solar project development services to help you qualify and compare prospective sites.

FIELD INVESTIGATION SERVICES

CEC offers several field investigation services that provide you with boots-on-the-ground information you can use for planning purposes.

Our experts perform site visits to obtain information about waters of the U.S., rare, threatened, or endangered species habitats, boundary and topographic surveys, cultural resources, and subsurface soil information.

DESIGN AND PERMITTING

Challenges associated with local ordinances, state and federal regulations, community concerns, and design constraints have the potential to impact solar development projects. CEC’s team works effectively with stakeholders to help our clients develop and navigate productive strategies.

CONSTRUCTION-PHASE SERVICES

CEC understands that the success of a solar development project hinges on maintaining schedule, efficiency, and cost control during the late stages of a project. From bidding to project closeout, CEC can help you maximize project
return on investment with construction-phase services.

CEC understands the regulatory, construction, and operational challenges our clients face with wind energy generation. We treat each project as a unique opportunity to serve our clients with senior leadership and technical expertise from within our organization and our many partners.

SITE SELECTION SERVICES

Our multi-disciplinary teams guide our clients through the site selection phase of projects. CEC coordinates with landowners, real estate agents, utilities, and regulatory agencies. We understand the value of taking the time to understand potential project challenges up front so delays can be avoided as projects progress. As such, we stress the importance of identifying potential challenges that may interrupt or delay an individual project as soon as possible. Then, based on project needs and goals, we develop screening criteria (e.g., avoidance of threatened and endangered species impacts) that help our clients develop a strategic pathway to the timely and cost-efficient completion of their project.

PERMITTING AND PLANNING SERVICES

During the permitting and planning phase, permit applications are developed that rely on developed project plans, defined project requirements, results of various field investigations and consultations, and the project schedule. Ultimately, this phase helps guide our clients through construction and operation. As a leader in biological field investigations, CEC’s knowledgeable and qualified biologists, wetland scientists, conservation ecologists, and permitting specialists maintain excellent rapport with regulatory agencies, including numerous U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service regional offices, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers districts, and state agencies, while serving as advocates for our clients. CEC’s biologists also include numerous federally permitted, USFWS-approved surveyors for various threatened and endangered species.

DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION SERVICES

CEC can support wind projects during the design and construction phases. We routinely monitor the construction of earthmoving operations, the installation of erosion control measures and foundation construction. CEC provides certified technicians for testing soils, concrete, and steel.

OPERATIONS SERVICES

Implementing ecological mitigation requirements as well as post-construction monitoring are important elements of the operation phase of a project. Our multidisciplinary teams help guide our clients through this phase. CEC is skilled at addressing challenging issues that might arise, such as endangered species impacts or the need to implement adaptive management programs and operational changes. Our professionals are fully prepared to help clients navigate through any challenge that might arise.