Another Mega Solar Project Approved For Riverside County Desert

BLYTHE, CA — Federal officials announced Monday the final approval of another solar energy project slated to be constructed on public land in Riverside County's desert.

Once up and running, the $550 million Crimson Solar Project west of Blythe will have the capacity to provide electricity to approximately 87,500 homes, according to the U.S. Department of the Interior.

"The time for a clean energy future is now. We must make bold investments that will tackle climate change and create good-paying American jobs," Interior Secretary Deb Haaland said in a statement. "Projects like this can help to make America a global leader in the clean energy economy through the acceleration of responsible renewable energy development on public lands."

The project, slated to be built on 2,000 acres of Bureau of Land Management land about 13 miles west of Blythe, will be owned by Sonoran West Solar Holdings LLC, a subsidiary of Northern California-based Recurrent Energy LLC.

Construction will provide an estimated 650 temporary jobs. Once built, the facility will provide 10 permanent jobs and 40 temporary jobs in operations and maintenance over the 30-year life of the project, officials said.

The Crimson Solar Project is located within an area designated for development within the Desert Renewable Energy Conservation Plan. Finalized in 2016, the framework designated nearly 11 million acres of federal land for conservation and recreation across the Southern California desert.
Solar projects that have already been approved as part of the plan's Riverside East Solar Energy Zone include.

• McCoy FPL Energy (Riverside County), 5,440 acres, 750 MW photovoltaic (PV) facility
• Blythe Solar Power Project (Riverside County), 4,313 acres, 485 MW PV facility
• Genesis Solar (Riverside County), 1,952 acres, 250 MW parabolic trough facility
• Desert Harvest (Riverside County), 1,198 acres, 150 MW PV facility
• Palen Solar (Riverside County), 5,160 acres, 500 MW PV facility
• Desert Quartzite (Riverside County), 3,000 acres, 450 MW PV facility

RELATED: $1 Billion Solar Project Approved For Riverside County Desert

—City News Service contributed to this report.