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.
“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.
Keep up to date with all the latest news on solar energy here on CleanTechnica. Subscribe to our free solar energy newsletter or overall cleantech newsletter to never miss a story.
Sign up for daily news updates from CleanTechnica on email. Or follow us on Google News!
Have a tip for CleanTechnica, want to advertise, or want to suggest a guest for our CleanTech Talk podcast? Contact us here.
Electrifying Industrial Heat for Steel, Cement, & More
I don't like paywalls. You don't like paywalls. Who likes paywalls? Here at CleanTechnica, we implemented a limited paywall for a while, but it always felt wrong — and it was always tough to decide what we should put behind there. In theory, your most exclusive and best content goes behind a paywall. But then fewer people read it! We just don't like paywalls, and so we've decided to ditch ours. Unfortunately, the media business is still a tough, cut-throat business with tiny margins. It's a never-ending Olympic challenge to stay above water or even perhaps — gasp — grow. So ...
