BrightSource Energy, Inc. (BrightSource Energy), a developer of solar thermal energy plants, has entered agreement on the principal terms of a private land contract with Coyote Springs Land Company (Coyote Springs Land), a community developer in Nevada, US. The parties have identified a six-square-mile area within the larger Coyote Springs Land development in Lincoln county where BrightSource Energy plans to construct a large-scale solar thermal energy project.
The agreement marks a step in the development of a solar thermal energy project that could provide up to 600 megawatts of clean reliable solar thermal energy to both the Nevada and California markets.
The site is located on private property near transmission lines and, as part of the broader development site, has already received environmental permits from the Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Fish and Wildlife and various other federal, state and county agencies. The power generated from the Coyote Springs site could meet demand generated in the Coyote Springs development, southern Nevada, and California.
Located northeast of Las Vegas, the Coyote Springs development will also include several residential and commercial components. Whittemore has already opened PGA Golf Club Coyote Springs’ first golf course, The Chase, an award-winning PGA golf course.
“With abundant sun and access to key markets in Nevada and California, the Coyote Springs site is an ideal location to develop clean, reliable and low cost solar thermal energy,” said Tom Doyle, executive vice president of project development for BrightSource Energy. “We’re excited to partner with Coyote Springs to place Nevada on the cutting edge of renewable energy, and to demonstrate that solar projects not only address climate change, but also create jobs and strengthen our economy.”
“We are extremely proud to collaborate with BrightSource on a project that will demonstrate our and Nevada’s commitment to renewable energy,” said Harvey Whittemore, founder of Coyote Springs and chairman of Coyote Springs Land. “This facility has the potential to not only power Coyote Springs in an environmentally-responsible manner, but could also supply power to various areas throughout the western United States. We have received major environmental recognition in the past for the work that we do and this project is consistent with our long-standing commitment to protect the environment.”