Massive solar project goes online in Nevada desert

SOLAR: Developers bring the 690 MW Gemini Solar + Energy Storage project online in southern Nevada, making it one of the nation’s largest operational facilities of its kind. (Power)

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ALSO:

• Federal data show California residents are increasingly pairing rooftop solar with battery storage installations after the state slashed net-metering compensation for distributed generation. (news release)
• A Nevada county votes to reject a proposed solar panel recycling testing facility, citing residents’ concerns it may lead to industrial expansion. (Pahrump Valley Times)
• California’s Port of Oakland allocates nearly $20 million to purchase solar power and resell it to tenants. (news release)

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CLEAN ENERGY: Colorado economic development officials approve up to $1.84 million in tax incentives for a clean energy manufacturer considering establishing a facility in the state. (CPR)

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STORAGE:

• A New Mexico county asks a developer for more information before voting on a proposed $230 million industrial bond to finance a 150 MW battery energy storage system. (Carlsbad Current-Argus)
• A Colorado electric cooperative brings a 78 MW battery energy storage system online in the eastern part of the state. (news release)
• An Arizona utility and a developer plan a 250 MW battery energy storage system in the Phoenix area. (news release)

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GRID: Distributed energy provider Sunrun says its virtual power plant composed of some 16,000 residential solar-plus-storage systems sent up to 51 MW to the California grid during a July heat wave. (news release)

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MICROGRIDS: Colorado awards utilities more than $2.1 million to construct solar and battery storage powered microgrids. (Microgrid Knowledge)

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OIL & GAS: The federal Bureau of Land Management proposes strengthening oil and gas drilling regulations on public land in Colorado to mitigate impacts to wildlife habitat. (news release)

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ELECTRIC VEHICLES: California electric vehicle sales for the second quarter of 2024 drop 1.2% from the previous year, raising questions about whether the state can meet its goal of banning new gasoline-fueled car sales by 2035. (Los Angeles Times)

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MINING: Advocates push back against a company’s plan to breed an endangered wildflower in a lab to offset its proposed Nevada lithium mine’s impacts to the plant, saying the firm is “greenwashing extinction.” (Associated Press)

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NUCLEAR:

• California startup Oklo successfully demonstrates its advanced nuclear reactor fuel recycling process. (World Nuclear News)
• A firm considers establishing a nuclear reactor fuel fabrication facility in Wyoming. (World Nuclear News)

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CARBON CAPTURE: Montana residents push back on an ExxonMobil subsidiary’s proposal to store 150 million tons of captured carbon in federal lands in the eastern part of the state, saying it would “change our way of life here forever.” (Inside Climate News)

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