Arida’s parent company, Avantus LLC,is proposing the development. Company officials said they intend to be a “long-term owner-operator.”

The proposed solar farm would be spread across roughly 4,000 acres of land at the southern end of Laughlin Township in Clark County. Project representatives expect the development to create around 600 construction jobs.

The site is a part of the Fort Mohave Development Area, and developers have been paying nearly $1M/year in lease payments to the Fort Mohave Development Fund.

Planning for the large-scale solar development began nearly a decade ago. Permits for the proposal were originally approved in 2018. Construction was delayed due to the pandemic and supply chain complications, and then the original permits expired.

The construction period is expected to last for 12 to 24 months. The solar center is expected to generate more than $350M in economic benefits over its lifetime. This includes the $45M in lease payments, $70M in property taxes and an additional $80M to the Clark County School District.

Construction will be carried out across two phases. This includes site preparation, solar panel installation, battery storage development and the creation of a line of 200-foot transmission towers.

Photovoltaic panels will be installed that will generate power. Power will then run through a connection to the existing power transmission infrastructure around the Mohave Generating Station. Developers have yet to determine who will use the power generated from the facility, but they are looking to sell the power to a utility.

The proposal then proceeded to the Clark County Zoning Commission meeting on Aug. 20, where it was unanimously approved. Construction is expected to begin next year and wrap up sometime in 2028. (Source)

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While Lombardo has frequently said he supports tariffs to bring more manufacturing jobs to the United States, he has concerns surrounding lithium refinement.

Nevada is rich in lithium content but has yet to establish domestic infrastructure and equipment capable of refining lithium to useful standards while maintaining proper environmental regulations.

Many have been focusing on creating a lithium loop in the Silver State, which would involve sourcing, manufacturing and recycling lithium all in state boundaries. Lithium is commonly used in renewable energy products.

The Biden administration previously classified the northern Nevada lithium loop as one of the 31 designated regional tech hubs in the country.

The existing lithium supply chain is dominated by sourcing manufacturing grade lithium from China, and then exporting lithium to places like Canada and Mexico to process before the lithium returns to the United States.

Lombardo fears the current tariffs on China, as well as the across the board 10% tariffs, will not allow the developing industry to flourish. Dragonfly Energy, a supporter of reducing tariffs targeted toward the industry, claimed the industry is far from self-sustainable in the United States. The company also stated it has been working on establishing a domestic supply chain and returning manufacturing jobs to the U.S. prior to Trump’s tariff plan. (Source)

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Salas O’Brien is the architect of record, while Stantec is serving as the engineer and landscape architect. Oppidan is the owner of the project. Another Oppidan data center is currently being planned in Clark County.

The Planning Commission denied the proposal partially due to wanting to further research on the long-term effects of data centers. The Council then considered adding data center regulations to its City Code, but a tie vote resulted in no change.

The Commission was also concerned the data center would be too resource intensive for the area. The Oppidan Data Center received approval from both NV Energy and the Truckee Meadows Water Authority.

Despite this, some councilmembers have concerns the data center will result in higher power costs for residents. A substation for the data center is a part of the plans. The 61.6KSF data center is to be constructed on a seven-acre site near North Virginia Street.

Council members were in support of the project as it has low water requirements relative to data centers and developers are attempting to work with locals. Due to concerns, plans have changed to include some renewable energy sources and alter the fencing around the property. (Source)

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AEPCO is a nonprofit utility provider that provides wholesale power to utilities. With its newly awarded funding, the nonprofit plans to make investments in renewable power to lower its emissions while keeping costs stable.

The funding will go toward projects that include 730 megawatts of solar power and 2,910 megawatt-hours of battery storage. With the addition of these renewable sources, AEPCO believes it will cut its emissions by 70%.

The funding will also allow AEPCO to retire its power plants that rely on coal by 2028. (Source)

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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.

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The direct current, photovoltaic solar facility will serve MGM Resorts International, Caesars Entertainment, Wynn Las Vegas and Overton Power District.

Bechtel will design and build 389,000 photovoltaic solar panels across more than 900 acres. This will be the first utility scale solar project in Lincoln County. The production capacity is stated at 185 MW. The site will also have 400 MW-hours of battery storage.

MGM is to receive 115 MW of solar and 400 MW-hours of battery storage. Overton and Caesars will each receive 25 MW of solar, and Wynn will receive 20 MW.

Completion is scheduled for Q3 2025. Lincoln County is expected to receive $80M in tax revenue from the solar farm. (Source)

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The $573M project is proposed to be completed by summer 2028.

The Nevada Conservation League Education Fund has raised concerns regarding the plan as it believes the plan will raise costs for Nevadans, increase pollution and continue to promote fossil fuel dependence. The Humboldt methane plant will only run during peak times to limit the number of pollutants released.

IRP also Includes Solar and Battery Storage

The integrated resource plan also includes bringing three solar and battery storage Power Purchase Agreements online, which will total more than 1,000MW of solar energy and more than 1,000MW of battery storage. Senate Bill 358 requires utilities to achieve a 50% renewable energy portfolio by 2030, and the new renewable energy infrastructure will help the Silver State reach those goals.

The PPAs would call for an energy developer to build/maintain storage on land owned by the utilities company. The company would then purchase energy from the developer at a fixed rate.

IRP Required Every Three Years

NV Energy must submit a plan every three years, which will outline its strategy for meeting future energy needs. The IRP also includes information on where the energy company currently gets its resources from and who uses them.

Nevada receives most of its natural gas supply via interstate pipelines from Utah and other surrounding states. Nevada does not have a significant supply of natural gas reserves. Nevada uses approximately 33% of the natural gas that enters the state; 65% of the natural gas delivered to Nevada consumers is used by the electric power

A report by the Energy Information Administration indicated that renewable energy produced 39% of Nevada’s electricity. (Source)

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NV Energy has issued its 2024 all-source request for proposals for renewable generation, conventional generation and energy storage.

RFP has been created with the purpose of “securing proposals for the acquisition of long-term dispatchable energy and energy storage resources with a minimum size of 20MW together with all associated environmental and renewable energy attributes, as applicable.”

Proposed projects may be located outside of Nevada but must be able to connect directly to NV Energy’s system. NV Energy’s retail service territory is a focus of the RFP.

Interconnection access is a crucial element of proposals due to land constraints for transmission corridors. Proposals must have documentation providing evidence of site control of the gen-tie route/interconnection path to one of NV Energy’s delivery points.

In terms of renewable energy, NV Energy is targeting wind projects to deliver to its Midpoint substation north of Jerome, Idaho. Renewable energy systems can be approved with or without integrated energy storage systems.

The Public Utilities Commission of Nevada will approve projects through a NV IRP Filing. Bids should be submitted through the Asite electronic portal.

NV Energy is also soliciting proposals for its Amargosa Solar and BESS projects through Power Purchase Agreement or Build-Transfer Agreement options. NV Energy is offering current development assets tied to the Amargosa project. Assets include Bureau of Land Management leases of two parcels within the Bureau’s designated Solar Energy Zone in the Amargosa Valley, its interconnection queue position/related studies.

NV Energy intends to evaluate proposals based on potential economic benefit to the state, job opportunities and overall value. The final deadline for bids is Feb. 14, 2025. Submitted projects must include a completed Facilities Study or Large Generator Interconnection Agreement issued by transmission providers (NV Energy/other transmission providers used in projects located out of the company’s service territory).

Integrated Resource Plan

NV Energy filed its integrated resource plan in May of this year. The IRP intends to balance Nevada’s increasing growth with conforming to renewable energy standards while maintaining the ability to provide customers with affordable, reliable and safe energy.

The IRP includes the proposal of three solar and battery power purchase agreements, totaling more than 1,000MW of solar energy and more than 1,000MW of battery storage.

Dry Lake East is a proposed 200MW capacity solar/battery power plant approximately 20 miles northeast of Las Vegas. The battery has a four-hour duration and is anticipated to be in service by the end of 2026.

Boulder Solar III is a proposed 128MW capacity solar/battery power plant. Located within Boulder City, the project’s battery will also have a four-hour duration. The project is expected to be online in the middle of 2027.

Libra Solar, the largest proposal, is to have a 700MW capacity. The project is to be located near the Mineral County/Lyon County border and will have a four-hour duration battery. This project is expected to be in service by the end of 2027.

Regarding natural gas units, plans include a proposal to add approximately 400MW of peaking units powered by natural gas. The units are to be co-located at the North Valmy Generating Station.

With an anticipated completion of summer 2028, the new units are designed to provide northern Nevada with steady power during peak demand times. NV Energy stated natural gas units are low-cost and eco-friendly. In the future, hydrogen fuel may be used for natural gas energy.

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