The Bureau of Land Management moved closer Thursday to approving three major solar power projects in southern Nevada and Arizona, including a proposed complex north of Las Vegas that would rank among the world’s largest.
The highlight of the Interior Department’s announcement is the proposed Esmeralda 7 Solar Project, which proposes building seven utility-scale solar power plants within a planning area covering 185 square miles in Esmeralda County in southwest Nevada.
BLM has completed a draft programmatic environmental impact statement for the project, which is projected to produce 5,350 megawatts of electricity — enough to power roughly 1.6 million homes — and rank collectively as the largest solar project in North America.
BLM also announced it has completed a final environmental impact statement for the Libra Solar project, proposed to be built on about 5,100 acres in Lyon and Mineral counties in southwest Nevada. It would have the capacity to produce 700 MW of electricity, or enough to power roughly 210,000 homes.
