Nevada: New $340M solar facility to be built in Lincoln County will power Strip casinos

A new solar project in southeast Nevada, valued at $340 million, is set to help power casinos in the Las Vegas Strip. Engineering and construction company Bechtel was selected by Estuary Power to design and construct the new 226-megawatt direct current photovoltaic solar facility, Escape Solar, in Lincoln County.

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. 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, as reported by the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

The project consists 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. 

Estuary Power is a Reno-based company that 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.