New Oregon Solar Farm Can Supply 800,000 Homes with Emission-Free Electricity
One of the country’s biggest solar farms will be established in Oregon which will have sufficient capacity to provide 800,000 homes with emission-free electricity for a year.
The Project will be in Morrow County
The solar farm will occupy nearly 10,000 acres of farmland in Morrow County and have the capacity to produce 1,200 megawatts of power with a battery storage system of up to 7,200-megawatt hours.
The solar farm is a Sunstone Solar project approved by the Energy Facility Siting Council and one of several renewable energy initiatives by Oregon to cut greenhouse gas emissions.
Oregon has set ambitious climate change goals, including an 80% reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by Pacific Power and Portland General Electric by 2030. The two electric utilities have until 2040 to provide electricity that is 100% emission-free.
Four Million Solar Panels on Nearly 10,000 Acres of Farmland
The Morrow County solar farm will feature four million solar panels occupying 9,442 acres on private wheat farmland 15 miles southeast of Boardman. According to information, a third of the high-value farmland has water rights.
The approval of this latest solar farm comes amid outcries from farmers about the damage to agriculture that solar farms can cause, including loss of revenue and shrinking agricultural acreage.
Oregon addressed those concerns five years ago when it restricted solar farms on prime agricultural land by allowing up to 12 acres in areas with the best soil conditions and up to 320 acres in areas with no water rights and poorer soils. However, a loophole has allowed developers to establish bigger solar farms on farmland.
To obtain approval, solar developers must prove economic benefits, a minimal loss of quality farmland, and advantages of the site location, said siting analyst Christopher Clark of the Department of Energy. Clark says most solar farms proposed in recent years have sited on thousands of acres of land.
According to the 2022-23 Farm and Forest report of the Land Conservation and Development Commission, 34 projects have been granted exceptions since 2011.
A siting council approved the Sunstone Solar project as an exception since the solar farm will be on land with limited available water, will economically benefit the local community, and is close to existing transmission infrastructure.
The developer will pay about $11 million to lease the Morrow County site to be invested in a new Morrow County agricultural mitigation fund to finance dryland winter wheat farming projects.
Three of the four families leasing land to Sunstone Solar have said they will continue farming in Morrow County close to the solar facility.
Construction of the Morrow County solar farm should begin in 2026.
References
https://www.oregonlive.com/environment/…