Solar developers have targeted a large swath of sparse federal land northwest of Las Vegas to build a cluster of large-scale projects that could power hundreds of thousands of homes but has raised concern about potential impacts to wildlife habitat and native plants.
The Bureau of Land Management has not yet launched a formal review of the photovoltaic solar projects — collectively known as the “Coaldale Solar Project “— proposed to cover nearly 40 square miles of federal lands in southwest Nevada’s Esmeralda County.
The three projects — Candelaria Solar, Esmeralda North and Cathedral Solar — would have a total capacity to produce 3,000 megawatts of electricity, or enough to power close to 2 million homes.
Douglas Furtado, manger of BLM’s Battle Mountain District, said the projects “would significantly contribute to Nevada’s renewable energy portfolio,” as well as the Biden administration goal of increased renewable energy development on federal lands in the West.
