Nevada Transmission Line Gets OK
A large-scale Nevada transmission line set to run between Las Vegas and Reno got final approval this week from the Department of the Interior (Associated Press, subscription).
What’s going on: Greenlink West, a planned 350-mile NV Energy project, “will greatly increase [Nevada’s] transmission capacity” as “it could transmit as much as 4,000 megawatts of clean energy, enough to power roughly 4.8 million homes.”
- Construction of the line is expected to start early next year, and the project is estimated to come online by May 2027.
More to come: Along with the approval, the Bureau of Land Management this week published its draft environmental impact statement for the transmission line’s companion project, Greenlink North, a 210-mile proposed power line that will span approximately 84,700 acres of federal land in Nevada.
- The two lines “will tie into the existing One Nevada Transmission Line, partially owned by NV Energy, creating a continuous triangle loop of high-voltage transmission lines throughout the state.”
Why it’s important: The two Greenlink projects are expected to generate $690 million in economic activity and create 4,000 jobs, according to NV Energy.