The U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), in coordination with the Departments of the Interior, Agriculture, and Defense, has released a study highlighting significant potential for renewable energy expansion on federal lands. This comprehensive assessment estimates that onshore federal lands in the contiguous United States could technically support over 7,700 GW of renewable energy capacity.
Key findings include:
- Technical potential includes 5,750 GW of utility-scale solar photovoltaics, 875 GW of land-based wind, 130 GW of hydrothermal, and 975 GW of enhanced geothermal generation on federal lands.
- Even with stricter siting constraints, such as conservation, livestock grazing, recreation, and military use, the technical potential remains at 1,750 GW for solar and 70 GW for wind.
- Geothermal deployment depends heavily on technology advances and cost reductions. Enhanced geothermal could lead to up to 10 GW on federal lands by 2035 and 36 GW by 2050, while without it, less than 5 GW would be deployed.
- Across seven deployment scenarios, three central models estimate 51–84 GW of renewable energy on federal lands by 2035. In a scenario favouring utility-scale solar and storage, deployment could reach 81–128 GW. If non-federal land availability is limited, deployment could rise to 231–270 GW by 2035.
- The Bureau of Land Management holds the highest renewable energy potential, followed by the U.S. Forest Service and the Department of Defense. Other agencies, such as the Department of Energy and U.S.
- Fish and Wildlife Service, have comparatively lower potential.
- Currently, only 4% (8.9 GW) of operating renewable energy capacity is on federal lands. By 2035, up to 12.5% of total renewable capacity could be located on federal lands, driven in part by the Department of the Interior’s focus on clean energy permitting.
- The study also identifies specific high-potential renewable energy sites managed by the Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Forest Service, and Department of Defense.
