A ‘notice to proceed’ has been issued by the BLM Palm Springs – South Coast Field Office to the project proponent, authorising it to begin full construction for the project on approximately 2,600 acres of BLM-managed land located near Desert Center in eastern Riverside County
The Oberon solar project will power nearly 146,000 households. (Credit: Michael Schwarzenberger from Pixabay)
The US Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has granted the final approval to Oberon Solar for the construction of the 500MW Oberon solar project in California.
A ‘notice to proceed’ has been issued to the project proponent by the BLM Palm Springs – South Coast Field Office in this connection. It authorises Oberon Solar to start full construction for the project on nearly 2,600 acres of BLM-managed land located near Desert Center in eastern Riverside County.
The project will generate 750 construction jobs, said the federal agency.
The BLM said the approval is a major milestone in the efforts of the Biden-Harris administration to modernise the country’s power infrastructure in the West and allow the production of at least 25GW of solar, wind, and geothermal energy on public lands by 2025.
BLM California State Director Karen Mouritsen said: “This solar project is the third project approved for full construction under the Desert Renewable Energy Conservation Plan and an example of how public land in California plays a big role in achieving the Biden-Harris administration’s goal to achieve 100 percent carbon-free electricity by 2035.
“The BLM is committed to responsible renewable energy development that balances conservation and utilisation of public land.”
The Oberon solar project, which was approved by the BLM in January 2022, will include 200MW of battery storage. It will produce enough renewable energy to power close to 146,000 households.
According to the BLM, the solar project is to be built in an area that has been analysed and marked as appropriate for the development of renewable energy. It is part of the agency’s Desert Renewable Energy Conservation Plan Land Use Plan Amendment.
The Oberon solar facility is among the three Desert Renewable Energy Conservation Plan projects announced last December by the Department of the Interior (DOI). The three solar projects, put together, can generate nearly 1GW of power.
Apart from the Oberon solar project, the other two approved facilities under the landscape-level plan are the Arica and Victory Pass solar projects.
The Desert Renewable Energy Conservation Plan is focused on 10.8 million acres of public lands in the desert regions of seven counties in California.
Presently, the BLM is processing 64 utility-scale onshore clean energy projects that are proposed to be built on public lands in the western part of the US.