BLM to accept applications for solar development
 
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) recently stated that it will accept additional applications for solar energy projects and process them with the 125 already submitted.
 
Recently, in response to public interest in solar energy development, the BLM shared that it plans to continue accepting applications for future potential solar development on the public lands. The BLM will process these applications, while continuing to identify issues during public scoping currently underway for the programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS).
 
The BLM, which had previously advised that it was temporarily suspending acceptance of new solar applications pending completion of the PEIS, shared in July that it will accept additional applications for solar energy projects.
 
The BLM manages more land – 258 million surface acres – than any other Federal agency. Most of this public land is located in 12 Western States, including Alaska.
 
A report, filed by The Christian Science Monitor, highlighted that the United States has 420 megawatts of solar-thermal capacity across three installations – including Nevada Solar One. "That's just a tiny fraction (less than one percent) of US grid capacity. But Nevada Solar One could signal the start of a CSP building boom," reported the publication. .
 
Efforts to generate another 4,500 megawatts of solar thermal power are now in development across California, Nevada, Arizona, and New Mexico – all of which have the flat, near-cloudless skies most desirable for solar thermal, according to the Solar Electric Industries Association.