The pandemic has hit the industry’s global supply network at nearly every point in the chain: Mines can’t ship raw materials, manufacturing has slowed because workers are self-quarantining or factories have shut down, and shippers and truckers can’t deliver products.
Across the country, other renewable energy companies report they can’t get key parts such as solar panels and turbines, according to Environmental Entrepreneurs, or E2, a business group based in Washington, D.C. The project is a huge step amid the turbulence wreaked by the COVID-19 pandemic. “The Gemini Solar project is a large, important part of our future renewable portfolio, and we look forward to successful, on-time completion,” NV Energy spokeswoman Kristen Saibini said in a media statement.
Bureau of Land Management after several delays. On Monday, May 11, the state’s largest solar project, the $1 billion Gemini Solar array near Las Vegas, earned approval from the U.S. “It’s hard to know if there’s going to be an interruption of our trajectory of building utility-scale projects,” said David Bobzien, director of the Governor’s Office of Energy. Neither the company, owned by Warren Buffet’s Berkshire Hathaway Energy, nor project backers responded to questions about how the pandemic could affect plans to bring those projects online in the coming years. Together, the projects represent more than $3 billion in investment, NV Energy reported. The state has approved nine large solar projects since December 2018 that will supply power directly to NV Energy, the state’s largest utility. Solar power is Nevada’s biggest source of renewable energy, leading wind, hydro-electric, geo-thermal and other sources. And already, some local solar panel installers report a rebound in activity. Officials said Nevada will weather the current turbulence and meet its new standard to source half its electricity from renewables by 2030.
But Nevada enjoys the sunniest skies in the nation, the momentum of a decade-long boom in projects and a state government pushing for more. Globally, the COVID-19 pandemic has cost the sector thousands of jobs, is delaying projects large and small, and in many areas is killing sales. After more than a decade of growth, Nevada’s fast-growing renewable energy sector faces storm clouds.
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