Interior Department approves huge Nevada solar project

The site will encompass about 2,200 acres and provide electricity to 75,000 homes

Published December 20, 2010 10:43PM (EST)

A solar energy project that will generate enough electricity for 75,000 homes in Nevada has been approved by the federal government.

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar says the Crescent Dunes Solar Energy Project in Nye County is the ninth large-scale solar facility approved by the Obama administration in an effort to encourage renewable energy development on public lands in the West.

Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid says construction of the 110-megawatt plant will create up to 500 jobs. Once finished, it will employ 50 in operations and management positions.

The project 13 miles northwest of Tonopah was proposed by Solar Reserve's Tonopah Solar Energy of Santa Monica, Calif.

It will encompass about 2,200 acres on land administered by the Bureau of Land Management.


By Associated Press

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