The United States Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has invited letters of intent to lease 89,589 acres of public land in the Solar Energy Zone (SEZ) to develop solar mounting bracket projects in Colorado, New Mexico, and Nevada.

The final date for submission of the letter of intent is January 20, 2022.

In Colorado, the agency expects to lease 9,712 acres in the Antonio Southeast Special Economic Zone, 1064 acres in the Detilla Canyon Special Economic Zone, and 2,650 acres in the Los Mogotes Eastern Special Economic Zone. In Nevada, it will lease 25,069 acres in the Dry Lake Valley of the North Special Economic Zone, 4,569 acres in the Golden Point Special Economic Zone, and 16,534 acres in the Miller Special Economic Zone. 29964 acres of land in the Afton Special Economic Zone is expected to be used for solar end clamp projects in New Mexico.

According to the Bureau of Land Management, of the 245 million acres of public land it manages, approximately 870,000 acres have been prioritized for solar film clamp development. If 8.5 acres of land are required to develop a 1 MW solar project, the land allocated by the project can support more than 100 gigawatts of solar capacity. The electricity generated by these solar projects can meet the electricity needs of more than 29 million households. In addition to the priority land for solar energy development, the agency also reserves 19 million acres of additional land for potential solar energy development.

Earlier this month, the Platte River Power Authority (Platte River Power Authority) issued a request for proposal (RfP) to acquire 250 MW of solar energy and/or co-located battery storage project. The power company will acquire projects that are expected to start power supply on January 1, 2025, and ensure that the commercial operation date will not be later than June 1, 2025.

The Solar Energy Industry Association and Wood Mackenzie said in a joint report that the US’s solar power generation in the second quarter reached a record 5.7 kilowatts, an increase of 45% over the same period last year.

According to a report from the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), by the end of 2020, the capacity of solar pipelines in the United States will be approximately 460GW. Among them, 160GW or 34% of the projects include battery storage facilities.