Australian investors play key role in huge 690MW solar and battery project – America’s largest

America’s largest solar and battery storage project, and one of the largest in the world to date, is set to go ahead in Nevada after the 690MW project was given the final all-clear by the US federal government.

The Gemini solar and storage project, planned for just under 50km north-east of Las Vegas in the Mojave Desert, is being co-developed by the Australia-founded global energy investment outfit Quinbrook Infrastructure and California-based solar developer Arevia Power.

As well as having a connection to Australia, the project has links with billionaire investor Warren Buffet via Arevia, which is part of an integrated resource plan Nevada’s Public Utilities Commission approved last year for NV Energy – Nevada’s largest utility that is owned by Buffett.

The companies said this week that the Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Department of the Interior had issued the final Record of Decision for the $1.1 billion project, clearing the way for it to go ahead.

The impressive project will span across 7,100 acres, and will be coupled with “the latest in battery storage infrastructure,” the companies said.

The battery will store energy generated during the day and dispatch it during the early evening peak period when power demand surges in Nevada.

In June of 2019, Gemini signed a 25-year Power Purchase Agreement for the all of the output of solar and storage plant to be sold to NV Energy.

“We are very pleased to have reached a satisfying and final seal of approval … so that we can now take Gemini forward with confidence,” said David Scaysbrook, co-founder and managing Partner of Quinbrook.

“This final decision officially clears the pathway for Quinbrook, and our development partners at Arevia, to accelerate completion of detailed project designs and procurement plans for one of the world’s largest renewables projects ever undertaken,” he said.

“Gemini offers the opportunity to showcase, at an unprecedented scale, what we believe to be one of the most promising technological advances in coupling battery storage to utility scale solar power to produce low cost renewable energy over the long term.”

The companies said that the approval from the Trump administration demonstrated its commitment to developing environmentally sustainable American infrastructure, while also demonstrating the value of streamlined federal procedures put in place over the past decade.

“Additional credit is due to the Department of Interior for their commitment to taking decisive action on Major Infrastructure Projects, including job-creating projects like Gemini,” said Scaysbrook.

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