The Biden administration expanded its proposed solar development plan for public lands in the West on Wednesday, a step officials said is crucial to delivering on President Joe Biden’s goal of reaching a 100% emissions-free power grid by 2035.

The new proposal is an update to the Bureau of Land Management’s 2012 Western Solar Plan. That Obama-era plan identified federal acres across six Western states — Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, and Utah — that had high development potential for utility-scale solar power.

Now, aided by $4.3 million in funds from the Inflation Reduction Act, BLM announced it has refined the existing areas and added land in five additional states: Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Washington, and Wyoming.

Speaking to reporters Wednesday, BLM said it worked with the Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory to estimate the land needed for it to meet Biden’s clean energy goals.

It determined approximately 700,000 acres of public land would be required for solar development, officials said, far fewer than the 22 million public acres listed as having high solar development potential in the 11 U.S. states and allowing for “maximum flexibility” as developers look to build out projects.

“Our public lands are playing a critical role in the clean energy transition, and the progress the Bureau of Land Management is announcing today on several clean energy projects across the West represents our continued momentum in achieving those goals,” BLM Director Tracy Stone-Manning told reporters.

Interior is also developing other large-scale renewable projects on public lands in the West, such as wind power and geothermal projects, which officials said could add as much as 37 gigawatts in renewable energy generation to Western power grids.

“The Interior Department’s work to responsibly and quickly develop renewable energy projects is crucial to achieving the Biden-Harris administration’s goal of a carbon pollution-free power sector by 2035 — and this updated solar roadmap will help us get there in more states and on more lands across the West,” Interior’s acting deputy secretary, Laura Daniel-Davis, said in a statement. 

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER

The agency also announced next steps for several large-scale projects in Arizona, California, and Nevada, representing more than 1,700 megawatts of potential solar generation and roughly 1,300 MW of potential battery storage capacity.

The draft proposal will be open for public comment through mid-April, Interior said. It expects to publish a final plan by the end of the year.