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A recently enacted U.S. energy innovation package has set a bold new goal for the U.S. Interior Department: the siting and permitting of 25 GW of renewable energy projects on federal lands by 2025.
Reaching that target would mean more than tripling the slightly more than 8 GW of total renewable generating capacity approved since 1978 by the Bureau of Land Management, an agency within the Interior Department.
Industry experts say the aspirational goal is possible, but it will require revamped environmental permitting processes and a major buildout of electric transmission capacity. The challenge could serve as a key test for President-elect Joe Biden s administration as he seeks to implement a $2 trillion climate and energy plan that aims to completely decarbonize the nation s electric grid by 2035.