Hecate Energy LLC, a Chicago-based renewable energy developer, owner and operator, is negotiating with the U.S. Department of Energy to build a utility-scale solar power facility with battery storage in 8,000 acres at the giant Hanford nuclear waste cleanup site in eastern Washington. been According to the agency, the project would provide up to 1 GW of power when operational, sometime in the next five to seven years.
The department is now negotiating the financial terms of the land lease at the former 564-square-mile US nuclear weapons manufacturing center that dates back to the development of the first atomic bomb in World War II. Once a real estate deal is in place, Hecate will lead compliance with environmental reviews required by the National Environmental Policy Act and the National Historic Preservation Act.
The development effort “is transforming thousands of acres of land at our Hanford site into a thriving carbon-free solar power generation hub, setting an example for cleaning up our environment and providing new economic opportunities for local communities” , said US Energy Secretary Jennifer. Granholm in a statement.
Hecate, 40% owned by Spanish oil giant Repsol, manages more than 20 U.S. clean energy generation projects that are in operation or in development, including two 600 MW solar projects being developed in the county from Cheyenne, Colorado. it will work with the Bonneville Power Administration to assess the impact of proposed solar power on the regional grid and determine needed infrastructure improvements, the Energy Department spokesman said in an email.
Hecate has also explored offshore wind development, linking with developers EDF Renewables and Orsted on potential floating wind projects off the coasts of Portugal and Spain, and expressing interest in offshore wind development in the Gulf of Mexico.
Federal plans to auction the added Gulf sites in Texas and Louisiana later this year were canceled late last month due to a lack of interest from bidders, but the U.S. Department of the Interior say that he could negotiate with Hecate about his unsolicited lease request.
The company said it has raised more than $2 billion in funding in recent months to develop about 2 GW of renewable energy in the US.
For the Energy Department’s solar project, Hecate was selected from a pool of 11 proposals in response to the agency’s request for qualifications in March. The DOE notes that it may cancel and rescind the selection for any reason during the negotiations process.
The Hanford solar project is part of the agency’s Cleanup to Clean Energy initiative launched last year in response to a 2021 executive order by President Joe Biden directing federal agencies to use federal land for project development of renewable electricity. The department says it has identified about 35,000 acres to house utility-scale facilities at the large complex of former federal nuclear weapons sites.
Earlier this year, it announced similar agreements at the Idaho National Laboratory in Idaho Falls; the Savannah River site in Aiken, SC; and the Nevada Homeland Security Site in Nye County, Nevada.
The DOE said last month that Framingham, Mass.-based developer Ameresco is negotiating a land lease to deploy 75 MW of solar power and battery storage on more than 500 acres on the Savannah River, with the Reno Estuary, Nevada selected to develop a 200. -MW solar project on 2,400 acres at the Nevada site; and two companies: NorthRenew Energy Partners, Becket, Mass. and Spitfire, based in Oklahoma City, in negotiations at the Idaho National Lab.
