NextEra Energy Resources is the self-proclaimed largest solar power company in the US, with more than 320MW of solar capacity. It has plans to cement this boastful claim with the installation of an extra 750MW in the form of the McCoy solar energy project in California; all that stands in the way is approval of the Environmental Impact Statement.
Whilst not the largest solar energy project planned for development on public ground in California, yet even so it will provide a huge boost to President Obama's renewable energy initiative, which has already exceeded the 10,000MW target to be achieved by 2013. The largest solar project to be constructed in California will be Solar Millenium's 1GW Blythe project in the Mohave desert.
In light of the success of the governments renewable energy initiative so far, it has released a blueprint for the development of an additional 23.7GW of solar power on public land.
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However, utility scale projects are not the only route that the Obama Administration is taking to promote renewable energy. There are several schemes that encourage individual energy projects, such as energy conservation, building retrofits, and energy data management strategies through the use of Better Buildings and Green Button initiatives. Another successful enterprise is the Plug and Play solar power initiative, which aims to make solar power as affordable and accessible as any other energy source.
By. Joao Peixe of Oilprice.com
Joao is a writer for Oilprice.com More