The Gemini Project, when completed, will be one of the largest solar projects in the United States. This $1.2 billion project will sit on 6,500 acres (pictured below) and is planned for completion in 2023.
It will consist of ~1.8 million solar modules providing 690-MW(ac) / 966-MW(dc), coupled with 1,416 MWh of battery energy storage and create about 1,000 jobs during construction.
Recently, Oakland, California-based Primergy Solar, part of Australia-based Quinbrook Infrastructure Partners and Gemini’s developer, owner, and operator, announced it has chosen Kiewit Energy Group (part of Omaha, Nebraska-based Kiewit, a company with a long history of power plant construction projects) as the project’s engineering, procurement, and construction lead. IHI Terrasun Solutions (Chicago, Illinois-based company) will serve as the battery storage integrator and Maxeon Solar Technologies (Singapore-based company), has been selected to provide the high-efficiency, bifacial solar modules.
Opponents of the Gemini project have said they don’t think the installation’s benefits outweigh its environmental impact, arguing that it will disrupt a desert ecosystem of flora and fauna about 30 miles northeast of Las Vegas. However, Primergy claims they have “invested significant resources” to minimize risks, including a partnership with biologists to create a Desert Tortoise Relocation Plan that “tracks, cares for, and will safely reintroduce the protected species back into their natural habitat once construction is complete.” In addition, Primergy said the project’s construction will minimize impact to the area, with narrow road corridors to the construction site, and “building appropriately spaced, raised rows of solar modules to ensure nearly 80% of the land on site remains open to the sky.”
Primergy, founded in 2020, said their Nevada portfolio already exceeds 1,300 MW(ac) of solar and 3,330 MWh of battery energy storage systems under contract with Las Vegas-based NV Energy, as well as multiple additional projects in the development phase. Primergy has more than 6 GW of operational and development assets across the U.S.
