The US Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is working on six hybrid PV projects in Nevada and Arizona, with the potential to generate 6.2GW of BESS capacity and up to 7.17GW of co-located solar across 124,500 acres of public land managed by the BLM. The announcement follows the release of a Draft Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) and Resource Management Plan Amendment for seven hybrid solar and BESS facilities located in Esmeralda County, Nevada. Each project is expected to connect to the local electricity grid via NV Energy’s Esmeradala substation, a transmission line yet to be built. Construction on each project is set to take 18-36 months and the full buildout is expected within five years of receiving BLM approval. In the last month, the BLM has published a final EIS for Leeward Renewable Energy’s Libra Solar facility in Nevada, which will comprise a 700MW BESS and a 600MW solar farm.
Solar Dominates US Energy Capacity Growth
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has published data showing that solar accounted for over 75% of US electrical generating
