On the heels of recent 10-10-10 and 350.org events, last Monday, the US federal government approved the largest solar energy project in the world—four plants costing one billion dollars each in southern California. The so-called Blythe solar power plant will consist of four, 250-Megawatt plants, built on public lands in the Mojave desert.  “When completed the project is expected to generate up to 1,000 Megawatts of energy … That’s enough electricity to power up to 750,000 average American homes and to make Blythe the largest solar power plant facility in the world,” Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said. Given the recent explosion of Chinese solar and wind development, this news comes at an opportune time for the US renewable energy market.

The total capacity will be roughly equal to the turbine output of a nuclear power plant or a large modern coal-fired power plant, according to Solar Millennium, the German solar company in charge of developing the facility.  Solar Millennium plans to begin construction on Blythe this year and at the height of construction, the project is expected to create more than 1,000 jobs, which is good news not only for green job creation, but for job creation in general in a sluggish US economy.  The Blythe facility is one of a number of renewable energy projects that have been approved in recent weeks by the Interior Department.