Feds set to approve nearly 1GW of solar capacity on public land by year’s end
BILLINGS, Montessouri— United States officials announced approval December 21 of two solar projects in California and moved to open up public lands in three other Western states to potential solar development, as part of the Biden administration’s effort to counter climate change by shifting from fossil fuels.
The US Bureau of Land Management approved the Africa and Victory Pass solar projects in Riverside County east of Los Angeles, which combined would generate up to 465 MW of electricity.
Approval of a third solar farm — planned for 500 MW and known as Oberon — is expected in coming days, officials said.
The land agency also issued a call to nominate land for development within “solar energy zones” in Colorado, Nevada and New Mexico that combined cover about 360km2.
The solicitation of interest comes as officials under Democratic President Joe Biden promote renewable wind and solar power on public lands and offshore to reduce greenhouse gas emissions that are warming the planet.
BLM Director Tracy Stone-Manning said in a statement that government support for renewable energy was a top priority for the agency, which oversees almost a quarter-billion acres of land primarily in Western states.
The land bureau in early December issued a draft plan to reduce rents and other fees paid by companies authorised to build wind and solar projects on public lands.
The recent actions mark a pronounced shift from Republican President Donald Trump’s emphasis on coal mining and oil and gas drilling.
The Biden administration was unsuccessful in an attempt to suspend oil and gas sales from public lands and waters, after a judge ordered sales to resume following a lawsuit from Republican-led states. Biden suffered another blow to his climate change agenda as opposition from West Virginia Democrat Sen. Joe Manchin tanked the administration’s centrepiece climate and social services legislation.
The solar development zones were first proposed under the Obama administration, which in 2012 adopted plans to bring utility-scale solar energy projects to public lands in six states: Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico and Utah. Officials to date have identified almost 3 500km2 of public land considered for potential leasing for solar power development.
If all that land were developed, the bureau says it could support more than 100 GW of solar power. That’s roughly equal to total US solar power capacity already in place, with solar production from federal lands currently just a small fraction of that amount.
In November the land bureau awarded solar leases for about 19km2 of land in Utah’s Milford Flats solar zone. Solar leases are expected to be finalised by the end of the month for about 34km2 of land at several sites in Arizona, officials said.
Solar power on public and private lands accounted for about 3% of total US electricity production in 2020. After construction costs fell during the past decade, that figure is expected to grow sharply, to more than 20% of production by 2050, the US Energy Information Administration projected in November.
But solar power developers warn costs have been rising due to constraints on supplies of steel, copper, semiconductor chips and other construction materials.