New Mexico is one of three states that could see the development of new solar energy projects as the result of a Biden Administration initiative.
Officials with the Bureau of Land Management have issued a call for land to be nominated in New Mexico, as well as Colorado and Nevada, to develop such projects soon.
The call comes as BLM has given its approval to the development of two solar energy projects in Riverside County, in southwest California. Those two projects, called Arica and Victory Pass, have the potential of generating a combined 465 megawatts of electricity, according to sources.
BLM would like to see up to 140 square miles of land in Colorado, Nevada and New Mexico developed for its solar energy potential, with the possibility of some 40 new and very large-scale projects being built.
The 140 square miles comprises what is being called “solar energy zones” in the three states.
Those zones are regarded by the BLM as being particularly well suited for the utility-scale production of solar energy projects. BLM has pinpointed land in southern New Mexico in what is called the Afton Solar Energy Zone for such projects.
That land, located within the borders of the BLM’s Las Cruces District, is made up of some 77,600 acres of undeveloped desert.
The call to develop more projects in the three states comes as the White House is moving to reignite clean energy development put on hold during under the Trump Administration.
Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, in a conference call with the press, remarked, “We fully intend to meet our clean energy goals.”
Haaland, a former member of Congress representing New Mexico’s first congressional district, earlier remarked that in the effort to build such projects the Interior Department will first consult with solar energy zone “fisherman, outdoor enthusiasts, sovereign tribal nations, states, territories, local officials, agricultural and forest landowners and others.”
By Garry Boulard