The federal court may soon give a go signal to a 690-megawatt solar electric plan near Las Vegas, it may become the first solar project approved on public land in more than a year.
According to the BLM spokesman Derrick Henry, the Bureau of Land Management is scheduled to issue the solar electric plan's final environmental impact statement for Arevia Power's Gemini Solar Project. The statement is said to be given on Dec. 27, with an approval decision that is expected within 90 days or by the end of March 2020.
According to Quinbrook Infrastructure Partners, an investor in the project, the Gemini project is also said to spread across more than 7,100 acres of federal land in Clark Country, Nevada. That is 33 miles northeast of Las Vegas, and provide power for about 400,000 homes.
Solar energy project
This project could be the very first solar project approved for construction on public land since 2018. The agency previously approved the Palen Solar Photovoltaic Project near Desert Center in California in November 2018.
The final approval for the Desert Quartzite Solar Project near Blythe, California is still pending after a final environmental impact statement was issued in September. That project is expected to be approved after public challenges are resolved.
NV Energy, a southern Nevada electric utility, and Quinbrook, signed a 25-year power purchase agreement for Gemini in June 2019. The project is one of the three new solar power plants that will serve NV Power, including the two that will be constructed on nearby Indian reservations.
According to Quinbrook, the Gemini project would couple solar power generation with battery storage in order to allow the energy of the project to be used when the sun is not shining. The batteries will be able to store around 1,400-megawatt hours of electricity.
There was a request for comments on the project, but Arevia, Quinbrook, and NV Energy could not comment immediately. Arevia expects to complete the construction on the Gemini project in 2023, and begin generating power by the end of 2023, according to their website.
Importance of solar energy farms
Solar energy is a known renewable energy source that has the potential to meet a lot of the challenges facing the world. There are a lot of reasons to promote solar energy in the market. This power source is increasing in popularity because it is versatile with a lot of benefits to the environment and people.
According to the U.S Department of Energy, the amount of sunlight received by earth in one hour is more than the total energy that is used by the entire world for a year. Solar energy was the fastest-growing energy sector, as of 2015, it had a 33% rise. The main reason why the government and environmental experts are pushing for solar energy is because of its environmental advantages.
Solar energy is a safe alternative which can replace fossil fuels like gas and coal for the generation of electricity that produces water, air, and land pollution. WWF or World Wildlife Fund stated that electricity generated from fossil fuels causes pollution in the air, which then leads to acid rain. It can affect the production of agricultural products and can lead to losses amounting to billions of dollars all over the world. It can also damage our forest areas and wildlife.
Fracking in America uses thousands of liters of water that are mixed with chemicals for extraction, this then contaminates the water used, along with the other bodies of water, and it can also cause earthquakes. Nuclear power pollutes our land and water and it has caused so many environmental catastrophes. The use of solar energy will eliminate these unclean and unsafe consequences of using conventional fossil fuels.
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