550 MW Of First Solar PV Projects Approved By US Government

11 years ago James Ayre 1 Comment
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550 MW worth of new PV projects being developed by First Solar have been approved by The Department of Interior — the company is now free to build these projects on agreed-upon public lands.

The newly approved projects include the 300 MW Stateline Solar Farm Project in San Bernardino County and the 250 MW Silver State South Solar Project in Nevada. The project in San Bernardino will cover an area of about 682 hectares, while the project in Nevada will cover an area of more than 971 hectares.

Image Credit: First Solar

“These solar projects reflect exemplary cooperation between the Bureau of Land Management and other federal, state and local agencies, enabling a thorough environmental review and robust mitigation provisions,” stated Neil Kornze, bureau of land management (BLM) principal deputy director.

“Secretary (of the Interior Sally) Jewell’s commitment to a landscape-level approach represents a responsible balance between the need for renewable energy and our mandate to protect the public’s natural resources,” he continued.

The Silver State South project was originally slated to total 350 MW worth of capacity, but was cut down to 250 MW in order to win government approval. In addition to the cut, First Solar has also committed approximately $7 million to programs aimed at protecting the Desert Tortoise.

The plants already have a 20-year PPA in place with Southern California Edison.

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James Ayre

James Ayre's background is predominantly in geopolitics and history, but he has an obsessive interest in pretty much everything. After an early life spent in the Imperial Free City of Dortmund, James followed the river Ruhr to Cofbuokheim, where he attended the University of Astnide. And where he also briefly considered entering the coal mining business. He currently writes for a living, on a broad variety of subjects, ranging from science, to politics, to military history, to renewable energy.

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