2 Massive Solar, Battery Storage Projects Come Online In RivCo Desert

RIVERSIDE COUNTY, CA — Two energy projects in the Riverside County desert that promise to power more than 250,000 Southern California homes are now online, the Biden administration confirmed Monday.

The Oberon Solar Project, a 500-megawatt photovoltaic facility near Desert Center is fully operational, the U.S. Department of the Interior's Bureau of Land Management announced.

The project includes up to 250 megawatts of battery storage "and is delivering enough clean energy to power 146,000 Southern California homes," according to the federal agency.

The project is situated on roughly 2,600 acres of BLM-managed public lands in an area "scientifically analyzed and identified as suitable for clean energy development as part of the BLM’s Desert Renewable Energy Conservation Plan," the agency reported.

Additionally, the Arlington Solar Energy Center near Blythe is also fully operational, it was announced Monday.

The facility on about 2,500 acres of BLM land can generate 364 megawatts, enough energy to power 111,000 homes a year, and includes 242 megawatts of battery energy storage, according to federal officials.

Monday's announcements were part of remarks by Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland at Monday's Western Governors Association Winter Meeting where she announced that the Biden administration is advancing 15 onshore renewable energy projects across the West.

In addition to the two Riverside County projects, Haaland said other projects include transmission lines proposed across Arizona, Nevada and Utah; geothermal energy development in Nevada; and environmental reviews for seven solar projects proposed in Nevada and a solar and battery storage project in Arizona.

The Biden administration wants to see permits for 25 gigawatts of solar, wind and geothermal production on public lands no later than 2025, said BLM Director Tracy Stone-Manning.

The BLM is currently processing 66 large onshore clean energy projects proposed on public lands in the western United States. The projects have the combined potential to add more than 33 gigawatts of renewable energy to the western electric grid, according to the BLM.