The U.S. Department of the Interior approved the construction of the largest "Gemini" solar project in the United States to date in Nevada on the 11th, with a cost of about $1 billion. After the completion of the project, it is expected to become the eighth largest solar power station in the world. While meeting the power supply, the project can also inject new impetus into the local economy affected by the epidemic.
The project, which will be built in a desert area of Nevada, has drawn criticism from environmentalists as a potential threat to local species.
【Driving local employment】
The U.S. Department of the Interior announced on the 11th that it will build a photovoltaic solar power plant and auxiliary facilities with a total capacity of 690 megawatts about 48 kilometers northeast of Las Vegas.
When completed, the project will provide an adequate power supply to about 260,000 homes in the Las Vegas area as well as southern California, and the annual power generation is expected to offset the annual greenhouse gas emissions of about 83,000 cars.
U.S. Interior Secretary David Bernhardt said construction could provide up to 900 construction jobs at its peak, and it is expected that 19 long-term construction workers will be retained at the project site, while driving about 1,100 more jobs in the local community.
Bernhardt said the project is expected to inject about $712.5 million into the local economy as the nation tries to recover from the shock. "Our economic recovery depends on the U.S. resuming work and production, and this project will achieve that goal."
The First Phase of the Gemini solar project, which will occupy about 28 square kilometers of federal land, is expected to be completed next year, delivering 440 megawatts of electricity to Nevada, the Associated Press reported. The second phase of the project is expected to add 250 megawatts of generating capacity, and the additional power will be sold in Nevada in 2022 or delivered to Arizona and California. The project includes a 380 MW AC battery storage system that continues to deliver power after the sun sets.
The project, a joint venture between Australia's Quinbrook Infrastructure Partnership and California's Alevia Power Company, is part of a comprehensive resource plan developed by Nevada Energy. The plan was approved by the Nevada Public Utilities Commission last year. Nevada Energy is owned by well-known investor Warren Buffett.
【Alleged Threatened Species】
Abigail Ross Hopper, president and CEO of the Solar Energy Industry Association, praised the Gemini solar project as "bringing jobs and private investment to the most in-demand states." But according to the Associated Press, many environmentalists believe that the project may destroy the environment on which the desert gopher turtle depends.
The desert gopher tortoise, also known as the desert tortoise, is a larger tortoise that lives in remote areas of the United States. They usually inhabit dry environments with cacti and thorny plants, and can be used to dig deep burrows as a hiding place.
Some U.S. environmental groups have lobbied the Interior Ministry's Bureau of Land Management for years to build the project elsewhere, but to no avail.
Kevin Emmerich, director of an environmental group, said on the 11th: "We believe that solar energy has incredible benefits, but if you put it in the wrong place, it can become the worst thing for the environment." He believes that solar energy projects may not lead to the extinction of desert gopher turtles, but they will seriously threaten their survival.
Laura Cunningham, a biologist who works for another environmental group, points out that in addition to the desert gopher turtle, the solar project is home to two rare species of astragalus and animals and plants such as the min fox and the burrowing owl. The area is rich in bio-soil crusts that could have absorbed large amounts of carbon, but now the soil has been bulldozed by solar projects.
In response to environmentalists' objections, Bernhardt acknowledged that the project will have negative consequences for the desert gopher turtle habitat, but "overall, the benefits of large-scale renewable energy production and battery storage capacity outweigh the impact on the desert gopher tortoise.". (Marine)
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