1,200 acre Duff Solar Park being planned (updated)
A 1,200-acre solar panel project that could produce up to 100 megawatts of electricity is being planned for the Duff/Patoka Township area.
The Duff Solar Park is being constructed by EDP Renewables North America LLC. Based out of Houston, Texas, the company operates 58 wind farms in the United States, making it the fourth largest wind-power producer in the country. They also operate nine solar parks. According to the company, this equates to powering about 2 million homes.
Here is more information on the Duff Solar Park.
EDP Renewables North America LLC is a subsidiary of an international company with a presence in Belgium, Brazil, Cambodia, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, France, Greece, Hungary, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Singapore, Spain, Taiwan, Thailand, United Kingdom, United States and Vietnam.
Between wind and solar, the North American group has about 3,600 megawatts of production capacity either in operation or under construction in Indiana — mainly in northern Indiana. Company representatives attributed this large footprint to Indiana’s pro-business stance as well as the favorable regulatory structure.
The Duff Solar Park project manager Sara Greenberg discussed the project with the Dubois County Commissioners at the regular meeting held Monday morning.
She explained the current plan is to begin construction on the park in 2023, with it being fully operational by 2024. “With that timeline, we are doing everything we can right now to finish up our design and get everything in order for construction,” Greenberg said.
Currently, the company is conducting studies to assess factors regarding impacts on the environment and wildlife and assessing geotechnical conditions, drainage, and the impact to county roads.
“A lot of different studies to make sure construction is safe, and we have everything in order to make sure we leave a good impact on the county,” Greenberg told commissioners.
EDP Renewables provides electricity to utilities and commercial entities. In Indiana, that includes Hoosier Energy, ComEd, NIPSCO as well as Walmart and Facebook.
“With this project, we are currently bidding our energy to customers, and we’re seeing who is biting,” Greenberg said.
Although the company doesn’t have a contract for the energy yet, Greenberg told commissioners there is some commercial interest. Once EDP Renewables has a contract for power, they will begin the construction process on the Duff Solar Park.
The park is expected to cost about $171 million to construct.
“One of the best parts of bringing in a big capital investment is that tax base increase and also the direct payments to landowners,” Greenberg said about the project.
Greenberg said landowners receive payments for the use of the property every year for the life of the park. A wind-power project the company operates in White County is expected to continue for 30 to 50 years.
“EDP has paid over $83.1 million dollars directly to over 400 local landowners in the State of Indiana,” Greenberg said.
In June, Bennet Fuson, a representative of EDP Renewables, presented the Dubois County Council with an overview of the project. Fuson told the council the company likes to seek 100 percent tax abatement on the personal property taxes — not property taxes — and in return, the company will pay into a special fund for the county to use.
Fuson said the company will enter into an economic development agreement in which they will match or nearly match the abated taxes as a direct payment to the county. He indicated the company will use the tax abatement as an incentive for other investors to be involved in the project.
“We’re still pretty early in this. And obviously, it’s a longer discussion and a longer negotiation to figure out the best way to utilize this,” Fuson said.
He also explained company typically enters into a 35- to 50-year lease for the land it uses for a project. “I think conservatively, we are looking at $20 to $30 million in landowner payments over the life of the lease,” Fuson said about the Duff Solar Park.
He also explained the company is currently renewing projects that are at the end of life, which could mean an extended lease for landowners and continued operations in these older assets.
To the question of returning the land to its original status, Fuson explained the company enters into agreements with the local governments and landowners to ensure funding is available to complete the decommissioning of a project. “We will work with the county to secure the funding for decommissioning so no one is left with stranded infrastructure if or when that would occur,” Fuson said.
Fuson said the project may employ two full-time people when operational.
During the commissioner meeting, Greenberg pointed to two counties in which EDP Renewables has helped establish economic development incentives through abated tax dollars.
In White County, the economic development fund created from abated tax dollars for the White County Wind Farm was used to create a $3 million incentive for a buyer to take over the operation of the Indiana Beach Amusement Park. “They were able to find a new buyer with that incentive,” she said. “We’ve been able to pay more than $25.7 million in tax and EDA payments in White County.”
The company also operates the state’s largest solar park in Randolph County. Greenberg said that abatement funding has been used for the county’s schools, sheriff’s department and townships for various projects and expenses. They have also used those payments to create a utility bill assistance program and a community endowment.
Greenberg used these examples to point to how the company wants to be a good addition to Dubois County.
“The goal is for us to really invest in a community and be able to build multiple phases of a project,” Greenberg said. “Right now, we are focusing on this one 100 megawatt solar project, but hopefully, we will be able to build out more solar energy in this county.”
At the first meeting in July, the county commissioners approved an ordinance adopting the standards regarding wind and solar parks that the state legislature passed earlier this year. Senate Bill 411 created standards regarding things like setback requirements, height restrictions, ground cover, fencing, cables, glare, signal interference, sound level limitations, required repairs to drainage related infrastructure and project decommissioning.
Here is EDP Renewables website.
The story has been updated with information from a previous meeting in which it was discussed.
Where exactly is this located?
Indeed…and what exactly will it be powering in the local area(s) and impacting costs of which existing power providers, customers, et al?
This is a good first step in the region becoming more energy independent. We still need to pursue wind as well as natural gas, nuclear and coal as a total regional energy plan. Solar and wind are viable sources of energy but are not 100% reliable so a backup of natural gas and coal could be turned on when the regional grid suffers from a lack of sun or wind as Europe has recently experienced. Let’s learn from Europe and not put our eggs all in one basket.
So where are you going to get your food if they keep destroying thousands and thousands of acres of farm land, and carbon sequestering crops
pretty sure this land could be put to better use, all this electric “renewable” energy is a scam.
Agree!
Anyone paying attention to Germany and it’s failure with solar and wind knows this is stupid 🙂
Should be 1200 acres of food planted !
Very good long term money maker. Many companies are flush with cash. They invest 150 million and have a steady return on investment for 30 years. Almost no ongoing maintenance and labor cost. With long hot summer days. (And getting hotter) there will be plenty of demand for electricity. Indiana is ideally situated with the tilt of earth’s axis providing a very direct angle of sunshine in the late spring through early Autumn.
Where are all the people screaming about the reduction in farm land?
It’s a complete wast of farm land it’s just a liberal thing
Renewable energy like wind and solar are the future. They won’t be the only source of energy production, but they will play an important role. It is hard to believe that in the 21st century we still depend on burning things to generate energy. Renewable energy production is neither conservative or liberal, it is common sense.
Patricia Pitsel, Ph.D., Principal at Pitsel & Associates Ltd. estimates that the typical wind farm requires about 12,000 gallons of oil:
“Right now the average wind farm is about 150 turbines. Each wind turbine needs 80 gallons of oil as lubricant and we’re not talking about vegetable oil, this is a PAO synthetic oil based on crude… 12,000 gallons of it. That oil needs to be replaced once a year.
“It is estimated that a little over 3,800 turbines would be needed to power a city the size of New York… That’s 304,000 gallons of refined oil for just one city.”
Some legit comments/concerns both ways thus far, but still concerned to learn how all this will be integrated/factored and play out with the existing utility providers AND local customers/residents plus farm operations in terms of costs/charges, etc…a boon or a bomb and maybe both depending on who you are and how it’s done. Seems years ago there were some controversial issues for individual homes that wanted to partially or fully convert to solar power…not sure how/if that was resolved or how that might translate to something like this. The project as proposed…1200 acres (nearly two square miles in size) and 100 MW…is HUGE for this area.
The worst part is the disposal of the solar panel materials at the end of its useful life. This is already an issue with some of the first panels already needing to be disposed of. IMO Solar Power is one of those unique situations where it actually makes more sense on a smaller scale. Individual household rooftops, remote location cabins etc. Reasoning being that it does not interfere with current or future land use. Disposal is still an issue and hopefully we will find a more efficient way of recycling them. IMO wind power is the biggest scam outside of electric vehicles. Too much maintenance and up front costs.
They came and talked to me about our land and they said they would be paying a bond like the coal mines do to put things back after they leave. I’ve seen how that works out, no thanks!
They are requesting 100% tax free for 10 years to employ 2 full time. Probably no local contractors to build it.
Yet, they will make money.
Spell this out loud –
C O R P O R A T E W E L F A R E!
Going green is not about renewable energy. It is about making money off of tax dollars and a gullible population. How long do we expect EDP renewable to be in business? When EDP goes under, and they will, (the owners will stay wealthy in their home countries), who will “work with the county to secure the funding for decommissioning so no one is left with stranded infrastructure if or when that would occur,”? Just a modern example of abandoned gas stations. And they have yet to say where they intend to build this monstrosity.
Concern over loss of farmland is an issue. Solar should not be an issue. As our population grows (slowed due to CV-19 and opioid deaths) we will soon run out of farmland to feed the population. I am not a farmer but we will likely need to rely more on genetics, hydroponics and vertical farming. Most quality panels have at least a 30 year life cycle.