BLM Approves Clark County Solar Project

By BEX Staff for NVBEX

The Bureau of Land Management has provided Candela Renewables with its final required permit to begin construction on Rough Hat Clark County Solar Project.

Construction of the 2,430-acre solar project is expected to begin later this year on land that borders Nye and Clark counties near Highway 160.

Candela plans to construct, operate, maintain and eventually decommission the solar farm. The project will consist of a 400-megawatt alternating current power generating facility and a 700MW storage system.

The project received a degree of controversy stemming from an environmental review that noted the local population of the endangered desert tortoise. The report estimated there are 114 tortoises in the immediate area, which will be relocated to Stump Springs. As the tortoises are being relocated, it was deemed to be not detrimental to the population.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service stated the solar project won’t cause serious harm to the tortoise population.

Other controversies surrounded the water-use of solar panels. Candela stated it would need fewer than 261 million gallons of water for construction.

Construction is anticipated to take 12-18 months to complete.