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NV Energy To Add 1.2 GW Solar With 3 New Projects

Nevada’s NV Energy To Procure Around 1.2 GW Additional Solar Power Through 3 New Solar Projects With Battery Storage Component; EDF Renewables North America To Use Bifacial Modules For 200 MW Arrow Canyon Solar Project

Anu Bhambhani
  • NV Energy has revealed plans to add around 1.2 GW of new solar power capacity to its generation portfolio with 590 MW of battery storage
  • It will seek approval from the state Public Utilities Commission as part of its integrated resource plan
  • The 3 projects that will bring this capacity online by the end of December 2023 will each have battery storage component and be based in Clark County
  • EDF Renewables North America says it will use bifacial solar panels for the 200 MW Arrow Canyon Solar Project with 75 MW/5-hour battery storage system

NV Energy has announced plans to add another 1.2 GW of new solar PV generation capacity in the form of 3 projects within the state of Nevada coupled with 590 MW of battery storage. The Nevada based power utility plans to seek approval from the PUC as part of its integrated resource plan for these projects.

These projects are identified as:

  • 200 MW Arrow Canyon Solar Project with 75 MW/5-hour battery storage system by EDF Renewables North America.
  • 300 MW Southern Bighorn Solar & Storage Center with 135 MW/4-hour Li-Ion battery energy storage system being developed by 8minute Solar Energy, previously 8minutenergy Renewables.
  •  690 MW Gemini Solar Project with a 380 MW AC battery storage system on which Quinbrook Infrastructure Partners in collaboration with Arevia Power is working on

All the projects are to come up in Clark County in Nevada and energized by the end of 2023.

For the 200 MW Arrow Canyon Solar Project, EDF Renewables North America will use high efficiency bifacial solar panels. NV Energy has signed up for a power purchase agreement (PPA) with EDF for the project, which will be located on the Moapa Bank of Paiute Indians Reservation in Clark County, Nevada. Expected to be energized in December 2022, the project will generate enough clean power to suffice electricity requirements of up to 64,000 average Nevada homes and create 250 to 600 temporary construction related jobs.

Bifacial solar panels for the 200 MW project should most likely come from China's Canadian Solar which has a module supply deal with EDF Renewables for 1.8 GW that was signed in May 2019 and comprises bifacial modules for the EDF's projects in the US, Canada and Mexico (see Canadian Solar Secures 1.8 GW Module Deal).

Bifacial solar modules have also secured tariff free entry into the US as the US Trade Representative excluded overseas produced bifacial panels from paying safeguard duty to enter the US  (see No Tariffs On Bifacial Solar Panels, Says US).

In December 2018, NV Energy's Integrated Resource Plan with over 1 GW of new solar power with battery storage secured approval from the state Public Utilities Commission (PUC) (see NV Energy To Build Over 1 GW Solar In Nevada). With another 1.2 GW on its way, it will all add to the company's already existing portfolio of 57 geothermal, solar, hydro, wind, biomass and supported rooftop solar projects in service and under development.