Las Vegas may be known for the lights of its casinos, but soon, the desert there will also be lit by a large solar facility.
According to Canary Media, the Bureau of Land Management approved a "200-megawatt solar installation with 600 megawatts of on-site battery storage." The plant will go online in December 2026 and get a stand-alone battery with a 400-megawatt capacity in 2028.
Heather Reams, executive director of the nonprofit Citizens for Responsible Energy Solutions, said, "We're thrilled to see that this project has been permitted," per Canary Media.
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While the Bureau of Land Management has approved some of these lands for gas and oil leases, the Biden Administration has made a goal to approve more of the land for clean energy use to meet its target of no polluting gases by 2035.
Seven gigawatts of geothermal plants, solar arrays, and new transmission lines have been approved since 2021. Additionally, 60 more projects are under review now.
Progress has been made to make it easier to greenlight solar projects. In April, the Bureau of Land Management made leases cheaper for clean energy projects. In August, it "announced a plan to expand solar development on public lands," per Canary Media.
Western Solar Plan is striking a balance of protecting public lands while making it faster to approve these projects.
Part of this plan includes not allowing solar projects on 131 million acres of public land while leaving more than 31 million acres for solar projects to be built. Specifying where solar can be constructed will make it easier to review.
The more approved solar projects, the more they can benefit the communities around them. For example, signing up for community solar can save you $150 a year on an average bill of $125.
According to the U.S. Department of Energy, solar power can also improve air quality and reduce polluting gases that are warming the planet.
Another benefit to solar farms is they are helpful for pollinators and native plants. The Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory in Illinois and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Colorado conducted a study of native plants planted below solar panels. The scientists found that after five years, native bee populations had grown 20 times their previous levels.
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