The Department of Energy Wednesday announced the selection of two companies that will potentially develop hundreds of megawatts of electricity from solar power at the Idaho National Laboratory.
NorthRenew Energy Partners and Spitfire propose to install a combined total of 400 megawatts of carbon-free electricity at Idaho National Laboratory under DOE’s Cleanup to Clean Energy Program, the agency said in a Wednesday press release.
NorthRenew proposes to install photovoltaic solar along with battery storage to generate more than 300 megawatts on about 2,000 acres at the Idaho site. Spitfire intends to install upwards of 100 megawatts of photovoltaics and battery storage on about 500 acres.
The Idaho awards in the first in DOE’s Cleanup to Clean Energy Program, part of a White House initiative to gradually wean federal installations off reliance on electricity generated by fossil fuels. The next step is for DOE to negotiate lease agreements with the two developers, according to the release.
“Tens of thousands of acres of DOE-owned land across the nation are being transformed into thriving centers of carbon-free power generation,” said Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm in the release.
Robert Seifert, acting boss for infrastructure and regulatory policy at DOE’s Office of Environmental Management, said this week the initial awards would be out soon.
