U.S. Interior Department Issues Draft Review for NextEra Energy’s 100-Megawatt Wind Project in New Mexico

The Bureau of Land Management released a draft environmental assessment for Borderlands Wind LLC’s 100-megawatt wind generating project spanning about 40,348 acres of public land in New Mexico, according to an April 10 news release. The agency’s preferred alternative consists of 34 turbines including larger versions with a maximum height of up to 630 feet sited on 16,648 acres.

The wind farm would be built near Quemado, New Mexico and the Arizona–New Mexico border. Ancillary facilities include access roads, underground collection lines, fiber-optic communication, electrical transmission distribution lines and a substation/switchyard in support of the turbines.

The project represents an investment of over $150 million in clean energy infrastructure in New Mexico and is expected to supply renewable energy to replace older fossil fuel energy resources. Tucson Electric Power Co., which serves customers in southern Arizona, has entered into a power purchase agreement for the output of the wind farm.

The issuance of the environmental review opens a 30-day protest period that will end on May 11, 2020.

Borderlands Wind is a subsidiary of NextEra Energy.