Solar plant gets approval

A solar-power plant in western Arizona that President Barack Obama said would be fasttracked for development has won preliminary approval from the U.S. Bureau of Land Management.

The Quartzsite Solar Energy facility is planned by SolarReserve. It would be capable of generating 100 megawatts of power in direct sunlight using a solar-thermal technology that uses thousands of mirrors to focus sunlight to the top of a 650foot tower, where the heat is used to generate electricity.

The BLM released the final Environmental Impact Statement for the project Friday, and the document generally coincides with the company’s plans.

The project was among seven planned on federal land that were given priority by the White House in August.