The proposed Ranegras Plains Energy Center is a 700 MW solar facility and energy storage system in Arizona.
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is seeking public input for a 700 MW solar facility and battery energy storage system in southwestern Arizona proposed by Savion.
The proposed facility, Ranegras Plains Energy Center, would sit on slightly over 5,000 acres in unincorporated La Paz County, Arizona. The project also includes 56 acres of Arizona State Trust land and 6 acres of private land for the gen-tie line. The land is a remote, unpopulated desert and rangeland area west of metropolitan Phoenix. The closest residential areas are New Hope, Brenda and Vicksburg.
The request is for a 40-year right-of-way grant to construct, operate, maintain, and eventually decommission a potential utility-scale solar facility and battery energy storage system.
The project incorporates a 300-foot wide wildlife movement corridor within the array. It will use a wildlife-friendly fence with an 8-inch gap at the bottom for most of the site. Less than 20% of the site will be graded, and most all vegetation will be allowed to grow back after construction. Additional information about the facility’s removal after its operational life and the land’s restoration is available here.
If the project comes into fruition, the facility will comprise up to 700 MW solar array on single-axis trackers, battery storage, and an 11-mile 500 kV gen-tie line to connect the project to the Ten West Link 500-kV transmission line. The project will produce enough clean energy to power more than 200,000 homes.
The comment period is specific to the draft Environmental Impact Statement, which is available in the National Environmental Policy Register. Supplementary information can be found in the Federal Register.
The public comment period will end Feb. 28. People can submit their project-specific comments on the project website, by email, or by mail or hand delivery:
BLM Yuma Field Office
Attention: Ranegras Plains Energy Center Project
7341 E. 30th Street
Yuma, AZ 85365
BLM will hold a virtual public scoping meeting for the project on February 5 from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. MST. Register to attend the meeting. The meeting will begin with a presentation followed by a 1-hour question and hour session.
Engaging the public is important when siting large-scale solar energy projects, found a study from the Berkeley National Laboratory last year.
To date, BLM has approved 46 renewable energy projects, 12 of which are solar, on 219,145 acres of public land. Together, these projects will generate more than 34 GW in renewable energy on public land, exceeding BLS’s goal to permit 25 GW of renewable energy by 2025. According to the agency, there were 71 proposed renewable energy projects under review as of November 2024.
Last year, BLM announced its proposed roadmap for solar energy development on public lands, designed to expand solar projects on public lands in Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico and Utah. More recently it was expanded to include Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Washington and Wyoming. It would make over 31 million acres of public lands available for potential solar development.
The United States set a goal of achieving 100% clean energy by 2035. To do so, a vast amount of land needs to be used for solar energy production. The National Renewable Energy Lab estimates that if the United States were to meet all of its electricity needs with solar alone, around 10 million acres, or 0.4% of the area of the country, would be needed.
If approved, construction for the project is expected to take 36 months, with the first phase slated for later this year.
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