BLM cancels Esmeralda 7 review, shifts to smaller proposals

The Bureau of Land Management on Thursday canceled the environmental review for Esmeralda 7, a proposed large-scale solar and battery-storage development on federal public lands in Nevada, effectively halting a project that was to span roughly 118,000 acres and produce about 6.2 gigawatts of electricity. The agency updated its permitting webpage to show the review was cancelled and did not provide an explanation for the change.

The Esmeralda 7 plan would have combined seven solar power plants and battery storage arrays northwest of Las Vegas, near Tonopah, and was designed to generate enough electricity to power nearly two million homes. The joint proposal involved multiple developers, including NextEra Energy and Invenergy, and had advanced under the previous administration to the stage of a draft environmental impact statement. A final environmental impact statement and record of decision, required before construction, were never issued.

Officials at the Interior Department and the BLM did not immediately disclose a reason for the cancellation. A department spokesperson said discussions between the BLM and project proponents resulted in a change in approach that would allow...