The US Department of Energy (DOE) announced it was entering into negotiations with NextEra Energy --- the largest renewables players outside China --- to potentially develop a utility-scale solar and battery energy storage system project in New Mexico.
The project, sporting 150 MW solar capacity and 100 MW of battery storage would come up on land leased the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP), which was developed to store nuclear waste.
The move is part of the DOE's Cleanup to Clean Energy Initiative, unveiled in July 2023, which seeks to develop DOE land for potential renewable energy generation. The department has since issued six requests for qualifications to lease land at several nuclear-related locations: WIPP as well as Hanford Site in the state of Washington, the Idaho National Laboratory, the Nevada National Security Site, and the Savannah River Site in the state of South Carolina.
"NextEra Energy Resources Development LLC will have the opportunity to negotiate a realty agreement to deploy at least 150 MW of carbon pollution-free electricity to the grid with a 100 MW storage system on up to 1,800 acres of land at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP)," the department said in a press release.
The US government, which is the country's largest energy consumer and land manager, has asked all federal agencies to achieve 100 percent clean electricity generation by 2030. They have also been authorized to use property -- including land -- for the development of new clean electricity generation and storage projects wither through lease, grant, permit or other mechanisms.
Andrew Mayock, federal chief sustainability officer in the White House Council on Environmental Quality said in the DOE release: "Through DOE's Cleanup to Clean Energy initiative, we will spur new clean electricity production, which is good for our climate, our economy and our national security."