The U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) announced the agency has approved the 600-MW Jove Solar Project, sited on about 3,500 acres of land in La Paz County, Arizona. The solar farm would be among the top five largest solar energy projects in the U.S., based on those currently in operation.
The BLM Jan. 6 said the installation, located about 30 miles west of Tonopah, also could include a battery energy storage system. The project would connect to the 500-kV Cielo Azul switching station and Ten West Link transmission line; the Ten West line runs from southern California to central Arizona. The agency said it expects the project will come online in 2027.
The BLM said its approved construction plan will avoid any building in a desert wash that crosses the project. The agency said that will preserve the channel floodplain, maintain existing wildlife habitat connectivity, and avoids areas that have been deemed environmentally sensitive. The BLM’s approval means Jove Solar will have a 30-year right-of-way grant for the facility.
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“BLM supports efficient development of clean energy on our nation’s public lands to move toward a carbon pollution-free power sector,” said Ray Castro, BLM Yuma Field Manager. The agency said Jove Solar will encompass 3,495 acres of public lands, and 38 acres of county lands.
“We will continue to engage with Tribal, federal, state, and local governments, local communities, stakeholder groups, and industry as this project moves toward construction,” said Castro.
The BLM said that since January 2021 the agency has approved 46 renewable energy projects on public lands, including 12 solar, 14 geothermal, two wind, and 18 generation tie-ins. So-called “gen-ties” are transmission lines that cross public lands to connect renewable energy projects developed on private lands to the grid.
The group said it already has permitted 34 GW of clean energy projects in total on public lands, surpassing its goal to permit at least 25 GW of renewable energy in its territory by 2025. The group also said that as of November 2024, it has permitted 70 geothermal, 63 solar, 41 wind, and 42 renewable energy gen-tie projects.
The agency last year issued a final Renewable Energy Rule that it said would lower consumer energy costs and the cost of developing solar and wind projects. The rule also aims to improve project application processes, create jobs, and incentivize developers to continue responsibly developing solar and wind projects on public lands.
The BLM manages more than 245 million acres of public land located primarily in 12 western states, including Alaska. The BLM also administers 700 million acres of sub-surface mineral estate throughout the nation.
—Darrell Proctor is a senior editor for POWER.
