The U.S. is canceling a huge solar project in Nevada, the latest effort by President Trump to limit renewable energy development.
The Esmeralda Seven solar farm is listed as “canceled,” according to the Bureau of Land Management’s website, which was last updated Thursday.
The project, as proposed by developers including NextEra Energy Inc. and Invenergy, comprised seven solar farms spanning 118,000 acres of federal land northwest of Las Vegas. It would have been one of the world’s largest photovoltaic power plants.
The Interior Department said in a statement that developers now have the option to “submit individual project proposals to the [Bureau of Land Management] to more effectively analyze potential impacts.” The decision comes as the department institutes permitting reviews and other requirements for wind and solar farms on public lands that critics say in effect prevents development of clean-energy projects on federal property.
Among them is a directive that requires Interior Secretary Doug Burgum to personally sign off on 69 separate approvals for wind and solar proposals, and an energy-capacity density standard that may be difficult for solar projects to meet.
NextEra said in a statement that it’s still committed to “pursuing our project’s comprehensive environmental analysis by working closely with the Bureau of Land Management.”
A spokesperson for Invenergy declined to comment.
Esmeralda Seven was one of several major clean-energy projects that had been advanced by President Biden, but his efforts to promote renewable energy have faced increasing opposition since Trump took office.
“The gears have ground to a halt for all of the public lands solar projects in the state, not just this one,” said Patrick Donnelly, a Nevada-based director for the Center for Biological Diversity.
Wade and Natter write for Bloomberg. Bloomberg writers Josh Saul and Mark Chediak contributed to this report.