The US Department of the Interior has now permitted greater than 25 gigawatts (GW) of clean energy projects – surpassing its original 25 GW by 2025 goal.
25 GW of clean energy permits by 2024
Once the federally permitted 25 GW comes online, it’ll be enough clean energy to power greater than 12 million homes across the US.
The clean energy projects include solar, wind, and geothermal, in addition to generation interconnect (gen-tie) lines on public lands to connect the projects on federal and non-federal land to the grid.
The Department of the Interior has now permitted nearly 29 GW of clean energy – enough to power greater than 12 million homes across the US. Additionally, it’s also leased eight recent areas in Solar Energy Zones with the capability to generate nearly 2.5 GW of additional clean energy.
As for what’s within the pipeline, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is currently processing permits for an extra 66 utility-scale clean energy projects proposed on public lands within the US West. Those projects could add greater than 32 GW of renewable energy to the grid.
Around 200 applications for solar and wind, and greater than 100 applications for solar and wind energy site area testing, are on the BLM’s preliminary review stage. All projects are tracked on this public online dashboard.
The BLM also announced today that two solar farms – the Arica and Victory Pass projects in California – are actually online, adding 465 megawatts (MW) of clean electricity to the grid. That means greater than 10 GW of clean energy is now generated on public lands, powering greater than 5 million homes across the West.
Electrek’s Take
Beating the permitting 25 GW of clean energy by 2025 goal is great news and something value celebrating.
But all that permitted clean energy needs to come online, and that requires transmission capability and grid upgrades. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) is working on a proposed rule to reform planning processes, and it finalized its interconnection rule to speed grid access in 2023.
However, the World Resources Institute reports, “Together, the 36 major transmission projects that could begin construction in the near-term represent only about 10% of the transmission investment needed in the US.” Power lines take a decade to construct, but technology to increase capability on existing lines is rolling out fast, so that would ease the backlog a bit.
Plus, FERC last yr issued Order No. 2023, which requires transmission providers to, amongst other things, transition from a “first-come, first-served” to a “first-ready, first-served” cluster study process, and that may improve interconnection wait times.
Upgrading the national grid and bringing clean energy online is monumental. It’s entering into the suitable direction, however the WRI declared the present rate of progress “insufficient,” and I even have to agree. It’s time to use all our resources – and we’ve got what we’d like – to bring this clean energy online much faster than our current pace.
Read more: The largest clean energy project in US history closes $11B, starts full construction
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Credit : electrek.co
