Trump geothermal lease sale collides with planned Nevada solar farms

The US Interior Department is set to auction 83 parcels of geothermal leases in Nevada this week, spanning 265,691 acres. Among these parcels are thousands that overlap with major planned solar projects, including those from NextEra Energy and other developers. NextEra, the world's largest solar and wind energy owner, had requested the agency to modify, defer, or remove three proposed geothermal parcels.

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) denied NextEra's request in August, stating that federal lands are managed for multiple uses.

NextEra's Sawtooth Energy Center project in Nye County, Nevada, overlaps with approximately 6,000 acres of the proposed geothermal leases, which constitutes about 60% of the project. The BLM published maps showing overlaps between six geothermal parcels and four significant solar developments in the Nevada desert. One of these parcels, fully overlapping with NextEra's Sawtooth project, was removed from the sale and seemed to have recently disappeared from the auction website.

NextEra has expressed concerns that the overlap could create a foreseeable conflict with its pending application. The agency stated that if NextEra's project is approved first, it would hold senior rights, and any subsequent geothermal development would need to avoid impacts on the project. BLM also acknowledged the overlap with a geothermal parcel that involves about 735 acres of NextEra's proposed Lone Mountain solar project in Esmeralda County, urging the agency to acknowledge the overlap and the non-exclusive nature of future geothermal lessee's development rights.

Other solar developers, such as Dallas-based Leeward Renewable Energy, have also raised concerns about the overlapping geothermal parcels with their proposed projects. They requested the BLM to recognize the overlap and the non-exclusive nature of any future geothermal lessee's development rights. The BLM has included descriptions and maps of the overlapping projects in the sale documents, including the 300-MW Nivloc solar project by Invenergy and Arevia Power's 1,500-MW Gold Dust solar project, among others.

The Esmeralda 7 development, which comprises seven solar farms on 62,000 acres, had its environmental review canceled by the BLM in 2025, but the individual projects may reapply for federal approval.