Trump Administration Set to Approve Largest USA Solar Farm

Federal officials are about to approve a massive solar farm with energy storage in the desert outside Las Vegas, paving the way for a $1-billion project that will provide electricity to Nevada residents aided by billionaire Warren Buffett’s NV Energy.

The energy storage component at least 380 megawatts of four-hour lithium-ion batteries, capable of storing solar power for use after dark  would also be one of the largest facilities of its kind. At 690 megawatts across 7,100 acres, the facility would generate more power than the largest solar farm currently operating in the United States, a 579-megawatt plant in Southern California.

The Gemini project will be on federal lands and thus requires sign-off from the Interior Department. Department’s Bureau of Land Management released a final environmental impact statement, in which federal officials indicated they will approve the project after one last round of public comments, likely within 90 days.

According to Tim Smith, the bureau’s district manager for southern Nevada, Gemini project “would represent a significant increase in renewable energy capacity for Nevada and the West. The BLM actively supports the Department of the Interior’s America First Energy Plan, an ‘all of the above’ strategy which supports energy development on public lands.”