The Bureau of Land Management has advanced two transmission projects in Nevada that are expected to connect up to eight gigawatts of renewable energy to the grid, the agency said Thursday.
BLM published a draft environmental impact statement for Greenlink West in the Federal Register today, along with a notice of intent to prepare an EIS for Greenlink North. Both projects are being developed by Nevada utility NV Energy, and would each connect up to 4 GW of renewable energy to the Western grid.
The agency aims to finalize the environmental impact statement and issue a record of decision — including a summary of any mitigation measures — for the Greenlink West project by late 2024. Draft environmental planning documents for the Greenlink North project will be released for public comment later this year, The Department of the Interior said.
NV Energy says on its website that it aims to create a “renewable energy highway” that will provide access to areas of the state “containing about 4,000 megawatts of undeveloped renewable resources that could not previously be developed due to the lack of necessary transmission infrastructure.”
The Federal Register notices published today kick off a 90-day comment period for the Greenlink West draft EIS, and a 45-day scoping and comment period for the BLM’s plan to prepare an EIS for Greenlink North.
