Renewable energy giant picked to build green power and battery at US nuclear waste site
Next step is for parties to negotiate lease for property to host a minimum 150MW capacity solar farm with a 100MW battery storage system
The US Department of Energy (DoE) has selected a unit of NextEra Energy Resources to potentially develop a utility-scale solar and related battery storage project on land it would lease near a nuclear waste repository in the western state of New Mexico.
“NextEra Energy Resources Development LLC will have the opportunity to negotiate a realty agreement to deploy at least 150MW of carbon pollution-free electricity to the grid with a 100MW storage system on up to 1,800 acres of land at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP),” DoE said.
NextEra Energy Resources is the largest developer and owner of battery storage, solar, and wind power capacity outside China.
WIPP is a deep geological repository licensed to store transuranic radioactive waste for 10,000 years. Transuranic elements are chemical elements with atomic numbers greater than uranium at 92.
Potential use of DoE land for renewable energy generation is part of the agency’s Cleanup to Clean Energy Initiative unveiled in July 2023.
Since then, DoE issued six requests for qualifications to lease land at WIPP and four nuclear-related locations undergoing remediation: Hanford Site in Washington State, Idaho National Laboratory, Nevada National Security Site, and Savannah River Site.
President Joe Biden signed an executive order in 2021 which calls on federal agencies to achieve 100% clean electricity by 2030 and directs them to authorize use of their real property assets - including land for the development of new clean electricity generation and storage - through leases, grants, permits or other mechanisms.
“We are excited about this large-scale solar and energy storage project moving forward at the WIPP site,” said Mark Bollinger, site manager at the Carlsbad Field Office. “This project will help the site achieve its sustainability goals and will bring jobs and innovation to the state of New Mexico.”
In April, the administration said it had met a mandate by Congress to permit more than 25GW of clean energy projects on federal lands by 2025.
The White House through executive cabinet departments has sought to open certain lands under federal ownership to solar, storage, long-haul transmission, and wind development, a move it believes will move the US closer to achieving Biden’s ambitious 2035 carbon-free electric grid goal .
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