Consultation For 700 MW AC Solar Power Plant In Nevada

• Leeward Renewable Energy's Copper Rays Solar, LLC has proposed to build a 700 MW AC solar and storage project in Nevada on public land
• It is planned to be located in Nevada's Nye County, southeast of Pahrump and brought online in 2 phases
• The BLM has opened a public consultation process to help it evaluate the project's feasibility

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) under the US Department of Interior is seeking public comments on 700 MW AC Copper Rays Solar Project with battery storage, proposed by a Leeward Renewable Energy subsidiary, to be located on 5,127 acres of public land in Nevada's Nye County, southeast of Pahrump.

The developer Copper Rays Solar, LLC plans to deploy either monofacial or bifacial solar PV modules on single axis trackers and site battery energy storage system (BESS) on 35 acres space. It targets to start work on 200 MW under phase I or Copper Rays 1 in Q2/2024. Remaining 500 MW will be part of Copper Rays 2 and will be located south of Copper Rays 1. The facility will have a generation life of 30 years.

"The type of comments that would be most helpful during the scoping period include potential local concerns and issues related to the Proposed Action, identification of potential alternatives and issues to be analyzed, possible measures to minimize or avoid adverse environmental impacts, information about historic and cultural resources within the area that may potentially be affected, and any other information relevant to the Proposed Action," said BLM's Pahrump Field Office Manager Nicholas Pay.

Last date to submit comments to this consultation is December 29, 2022. Further details are available on BLM's website.  

BLM is tasked with providing public land, vast stretches of which it manages for the US government, for environmentally sound renewable energy projects to bring online 25 GW solar, wind and geothermal assets by 2025 and contribute to the federal objective of a carbon free power sector by 2035.