Nine solar-plus-storage projects approved by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) will feature 6.2GW of battery energy storage, for a total of 7.17GW of solar farms on 124,500 acres of public land managed by the BLM.

Central to the recent announcement by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is the release of a draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) and Resource Management Plan Amendment for seven solar-plus-storage projects in Esmeralda County, Nevada, collectively known as the Esmeralda 7 Solar.

The release of this document is an important step for the BLM, which will use it, along with any comments received, to conduct individual environmental analyses for each of the seven projects. The BLM will then use this information to decide whether to grant right-of-way (ROW) authorization to each development project, thereby allowing the construction and operation of the solar-plus-storage projects.

Each solar-plus-storage project is expected to be connected to the local grid via NV Energy’s Esmeralda substation and the company’s yet-to-be-built Greenlink West 525kV transmission line.

Construction of each solar-plus-storage project is expected to take 18 to 36 months, and all projects are expected to be deployed within five years of receiving approval from the U.S. Bureau of Land Management.

The BLM also issued a request for proposals last month for Leeward Renewable Energy’s Libra Solar project, which includes a 700MW solar farm and a 700MW battery storage system on 5,100 acres in Mineral and Lyon counties, Nevada.

Leeward Renewable Energy expects to use a 3.7-hour lithium iron phosphate battery storage system for its Libra project and break ground by the end of the year.

Another solar-plus-storage project planned by Arevia Power also made progress after the BLM issued a draft environmental assessment for the developer’s Elisabeth solar-plus-storage project in Yuma County, Arizona.

The BLM will hold a virtual meeting on August 14, 2024, and is expected to make a decision in November on whether to approve the project for renewable developer ROW.

Arevia Power’s Elisabeth solar-plus-storage project includes a 270MW solar farm and a 300MW battery storage system.

The Southwest is home to some of the largest renewable energy projects in the country, and a recent announcement from the Bureau of Land Management suggests that won’t be changing anytime soon.

Quinbrook Infrastructure Partners and Primergy Energy recently announced that their Gemini solar-plus-storage project in Nevada is now operational.

Source：https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/JRA8PJtkqS6E5D7VyM6Gsw