14 DAY TRIAL // Just yesterday, the Department of the Interior in the United States announced that two more solar projects on public lands had been given the green light in this country.
The two projects are to be set in place along the border between California and Nevada, and, when completed, they will have a combined energy generating capacity of 550 megawatts.
In a press release on the matter at hand, the Department of Interior explains that this output will suffice to meet the energy demand of about 170,000 households.
The two new green-oriented initiatives are the Stateline Solar Farm Project and the Silver State South Solar Project, information made available to the public says.
The first of these facilities is to be erected in San Bernardino County, California, will have a capacity of 300 megawatts, and will cover an area of about 1,685 acres.
The latter, on the other hand, is to be located near Primm, Nevada. It will have a capacity of 250 megawatts, and span over 2,400 acres.
During the construction phase, the two facilities are expected to create a total of 700 job opportunities. Once completed, they will both permanently employ nearly 30 people.
The Department of the Interior goes on to explain that these two new solar projects on public lands are the 49th and the 50th of their kind to have until now been approved in the United States.
Commenting on their being approved, Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell stated as follows:
“When President Obama first took office in 2009, there were no solar projects approved on public lands, and no process in place to move forward the hundreds of applications pending from businesses that wanted to harness renewable energy to help power our nation.”
Furthermore, “With today’s milestone of 50 utility-scale renewable energy projects approved on public lands since our standing start in 2009, and with a number of those already producing energy for the nation’s electric grid, our clean energy future is bright.”