Nevada utility announces three major solar projects with battery storage

[jpak]

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-nevada-solar/nevada-utility-announces-three-major-solar-projects-with-battery-storage-idUSKCN1TQ2H5

Last week, one of the largest solar and battery projects in the world just got one step closer to approval. On Friday the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) released the draft environmental impact statement (EIS) for the colossal Gemini Solar Project, a behemoth planned for 11 square miles of the Nevada desert northeast of Las Vegas off Interstate 15.

The paperwork shows few exact details of the project, and it appears that the developers are not even sure if they will use standard or bifacial solar panels. However, buried in the description is a casual mention that there has been an upgrade to the scale of the battery storage component, with a mammoth 531 MW / 2125 megawatt-hour (MWh) battery planned accompany the 690 MWac of solar that will be deployed. As stated in the draft EIS:

This would make it the largest battery system known to pv magazine; larger even than the 409 MW / 900 MWh battery that Florida Power and Light is planning, or the 495 MW battery that is planned as part of the Juno Solar project in West Texas – neither of which have yet been installed.

Details of the battery system are also sparse. While a graphic to illustrate this system shows a Sungrow battery system, the developer does not appear to have made the final decision as to technology, with the EIS stating that the technology “may be” lithium ion.

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[Wellstone ruled]

1. Noticed a couple weeks ago going

north on the I-15,the old Reid Gardner Power Station is being torn down. The present Solar Farm is located a few hundred yards south of the old plant. And that Solar Plant utilizes Paiute Reservation land as well as State owned Power Line Right of way. So much of the present utilization is sold to California,and with the Mega Growth of Vegas,this will be a boon for the economy.