BLM to solicit comments on 600-MW solar project in Arizona

The US Bureau of Land Management (BLM) will hold two public meetings this month to collect feedback for the 600-MW Jove solar project proposed to be installed on public lands in Arizona.

The scoping meetings are scheduled for January 11 and January 17, the government agency announced on Thursday. By holding them, BLM will seek to solicit public comments and identify issues related to the scheme.

Jove envisages the installation of PV modules on 3,495 acres (1,414 hectares) of public land in southeastern La Paz County, about 85 miles west of Phoenix. The project will also encompass an additional 38 acres of La Paz County land. The future wind farm is planned to connect to the grid through the yet-to-be-built Ten West Link 500-kV transmission line.

According to official documents, the photovoltaic (PV) park could be coupled with a battery storage system.

In December 2022, BLM published a Notice of Intent to prepare an environmental impact statement for Jove Solar. The notice marks the start of the formal scoping and a two-year mineral segregation process.

Jove Solar is one of three projects on public lands in Arizona that could collectively add around 1 GW of power generation capacity. The other two are the 250-MW Pinyon Solar in Maricopa County and the 300-MW Elisabeth Solar in Yuma County.

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