$340M solar project will help power Strip casinos
A utility scale solar project is underway in Lincoln County, with plans to serve multiple Strip locations.
Engineering and construction company Bechtel was selected by Estuary Power to design and construct the new 226 megawatts direct current photovoltaic solar facility — Escape Solar — in southeast Nevada. The new solar panels will serve four major customers in Nevada: MGM Resorts International, Caesars Entertainment, Wynn Las Vegas and Overton Power District.
“We look forward to building a facility that will generate renewable energy for decades to come and add to Nevada’s successful history of renewable power generation,” said Kelley Brown, operations manager of Bechtel’s renewables and clean power business, in a statement.
Estuary Power is a Reno-based company which develops, owns and operates large-scale energy generation and storage projects in the western United States.
Estuary also closed a $340 million financing package for the solar project in late December, which they announced on Wednesday.
The project will consist of 389,000 photovoltaic solar panels over 900 acres and will be the first utility scale solar project to be developed in Lincoln County. The panels will be “highly efficient bifacial solar panel technology that enables both sides of the panels to absorb sunlight.”
The actual megawatt capacity of Escape will be 185 MW, with 400 megawatt-hours of battery storage. MGM will receive 115 MW of solar and 400 MW hours of battery energy storage; 25 MW to Overton Power District; 25 MW to Caesars Entertainment; and 20 MW to Wynn Las Vegas.
The project is expected to be completed by Q3 of 2025 and is expected to create $80 million in tax revenue for Lincoln County over its lifetime.
Contact Emerson Drewes at edrewes@reviewjournal.com. Follow @EmersonDrewes on X.
