Dive Brief:
- The U.S. Bureau of Land Management has approved the 485 MW Blythe Mesa Solar project in California, a photovoltaic facility to be constructed in Riverside County and which will produce enough energy to power 145,000 homes.
- In development by RRG Renewables, the Blythe Mesa project will be built on almost 3,600 acres of private land, primarily farmland under the jurisdiction of Riverside County and the City of Blythe.
- The U.S. Department of Interior must approve the project because a 230-kV transmission line crosses five miles of public lands managed by the BLM.
Dive Insight:
The BLM has signed off on the generation tie needed to connect the Blythe Mesa facility to the Southern California Edison Colorado River Substation in eastern Riverside. A right-of-way approval is still required for the facility to move forward.
“The Obama Administration is committed to expanding responsible domestic energy production on our public lands as we diversify our nation's energy portfolio and transition to a cleaner energy future,” Interior Secretary Sally Jewell said in a statement. “Working closely with industry and state, tribal and local communities, these projects not only provide clean energy and cut carbon emissions, but also strengthen local economies, generate good jobs and provide affordable, reliable, sustainable power across the West.”
"Blythe Mesa is another step forward toward diversifying our nation's energy portfolio to meet the growing demand for renewable resources," said BLM Director Neil Kornze. "With this approval, the BLM is well on its way in realizing the president's vision of permitting 20,000 MW of renewable energy on public land by the end of this decade.
No construction date has been set, and PV Magazine points out that it appears the project has been sold from NextEra to RRG. It was last budgeted at more than $1.1 billion.
