The Bureau of Land Management has authorised the Pearl Geothermal Development Project on the public lands of Esmeralda County in Nevada, using an accelerated 14-day environmental review process.
The project will generate 60MW of geothermal electricity which is enough to power nearly 50,000 homes, according to the US Energy Information Administration.
With the environmental assessment now complete under emergency permitting procedures, BLM is working with Ormat Nevada to finalise the authorising permits for the project.
Once issued, Ormat may begin construction of the project which will consist of two 30MW air-cooled binary geothermal power plants, along with associated wells and facilities, as well as a 29-mile, 120 kilovolt electrical transmission line.
The maximum distrubance of the project will be 1,257 acres of public lands, with disturbed construction areas to be restored as close as possible to pre-construction conditions.
Geothermal, as well as other energies developed on BLM-managed lands, boosts Nevada’s economy by US$2bn annually.