Solar Power Project Centers Water & Grassland Conservation – CleanTechnica

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Back in the early days of the renewable energy revolution, critics complained that solar panels don’t work in cold weather. Well, that was then. The cold weather myth has been busted over and over again. The critics can keep whining all they want, but an important new 1.3 gigawatt solar power project in the chilly US northern state of Wisconsin is moving forward, with water conservation and biodiversity benefits along with the clean kilowatts.

Less Nuclear Power — And More Solar Power — For A Cold Climate State

Wisconsin has been a solid performer on installed solar capacity, an impressive feat for state with legendarily cold winters. It currently holds down the #18 position in the 50-state ranking tracked by the Solar Energy Industries Association, with a total of just over 2.6 gigawatts. It’s also worth noting that Wisconsin ranked #9 just last year. All else being equal, the new 1.3-gigawatt project will boost Wisconsin up the solar capacity rankings on completion, which is projected for 2026.

In terms of alternative zero emission energy resources, that 2026 completion date is significant. There has been a big push of late to accelerate nuclear development in the US, a movement partly driven by data center stakeholders. However, it’s difficult to beat the short timeline and relatively low cost of building the equivalent capacity in solar power.

Exhibit A is the expansion of the Vogtle nuclear facility in South Carolina, adding two new units. “When Georgia approved the Vogtle expansion in 2009, the two reactors were expected to cost about $14 billion and enter service in 2016 and 2017. However, along with the delays, the costs have ballooned to $30 billion,” Reuters reported in April of this year, when the second unit finally began commercial operation seven years after expected.

Within a far shorter timeline and far lower cost, the new solar power plant in Wisconsin will add about the same power generation capacity as the state’s only remaining operational nuclear facility, Point Beach.

In addition to upfront savings, the new solar power plant will also minimize the cost of emergency planning. As explained by Point Beach owner NextEra Energy, nuclear power requires a considerable public safety commitment.

“State and local officials, together with NextEra Energy Resources, have prepared a detailed emergency plan to protect people who live, work, visit or go to school within 10 miles of the plant,” NextEra explains. “The plan, which is updated annually, is tested by drills, evaluated exercises and inspections.”

A New Solar Power Plant, With Bottom Line Benefits

“Conducting emergency drills improves the overall readiness of local authorities and enhances their ability to respond to emergencies,” NextEra adds.

Emergency drills also cost money and time that could be saved or spent elsewhere. That’s something to think about as nuclear advocates eyeball the prospect of reviving two other nuclear facilities in Wisconsin, Kewaunee and La Crosse.

Meanwhile, the 1.3 additional gigawatts’ worth of solar power in the pipeline comes under the name of Vista Sands, a project of the up-and-coming Pennsylvania solar developer Doral Renewables.

The project, to be located in a rural area of Portage County, received verbal approval during an open hearing of the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin earlier this week and Doral kindly emailed CleanTechnica with the news in advance of a written order from the Commission.

In this day and age of heated opposition to rural solar development it’s worth asking how Vista Sands managed to get this far. Doral credits a meaningful community engagement effort, unbeatable bottom line benefits, and strong public policy support from state lawmakers and voters.

“With years of careful planning and deep community engagement, Vista Sands’ approval represents a transformative opportunity for local economies in Portage County and a major step forward for Wisconsin in achieving its goal of net-zero carbon emissions by 2050,” explains Jon Baker, Doral’s VP of Development and Vista  Sands Project Manager.

By the numbers, Vista Sands will create 500 construction jobs and 50 permanent jobs, while pumping $6 million into utility aid payments in support of local communities on top of local tax revenues. Based on a report prepared by the engineering consulting firm Quantum Energy, Doral also puts the value of local and global public health and ecosystem conservation benefits at $630 million in the first year alone.

Try This With Your Nuclear Power Plant

Nuclear advocates often cite the smaller footprint of nuclear power plants as an advantage over solar power, but the solar industry is rapidly making the footprint issue irrelevant.

In the early days of the solar industry, costs were high and developers cut corners by minimizing ground treatment expenses, either by laying down gravel or replanting with a short ground cover. Now that the cost of solar power has plummeted, developers are making the case for solar projects to prevent erosion and improve soil health along with water conservation and native species restoration.

The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel cites the organization Clean Wisconsin, which submitted documents in support of the Vista Sands project to the Public Service Commission.

“Vista Sands is also likely to have significant water benefits in Portage County, boosting aquifer levels and reducing contamination in the water-depleted Central Sands region,” MJS noted on December 12. “The solar farm is anticipated to take 56 high-capacity wells out of normal operation and will greatly reduce the estimated 3 million pounds of fertilizer and 73,000 gallons of insecticide currently spread across the project area every year.”

Next Steps For Solar Power

Nuclear advocates are gonna advocate, but they may be underestimating the pace at which the solar industry can adapt and beat nuclear energy in terms of land use, emergency planning resources, and environmental benefits as well as offering more bang for the ratepayer buck and a shorter construction timeline, as solar developers incorporate regenerative agriculture principles and agrivoltaic features into their plans (see more agrivoltaic background here).

Vista Sands will encompass 9,500 acres of private land, which will remain in the hands of its owners. That is much larger than the footprint of a typical nuclear facility, but the project also involves restoring between 5,700 and 7,900 acres of farmland to native grasslands. The restoration will help contribute to ecosystem health in a nearby wildlife area.

“Vista Sands Solar’s ecologists have designed a seed mix for the Project’s paneled areas that aims to restore suitable habitats for native species of birds, small mammals, reptiles, and pollinating insects,” Doral explains.

“The seed mix is comprised of 17 native grass and sedge species and 31 native wildflower species,” the company adds. The solar array was also designed to avoid impacts on the breeding grounds of the Greater Prairie-chicken, though hard evidence will have to wait until the results of a monitoring program are available.

Doral launched just five years ago and it is already pushing the agrivoltaic envelope. Keep an eye on the company’s 400-megawatt Mammoth Solar project in Indiana, which hosts about 2,500 grazing animals, including sheep, alpacas, Kunekune pigs, and donkeys. Future plans involve establishing pollinator habitats and growing food crops for humans between the solar panels.

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Photo (cropped): A massive new 1.3 gigawatt solar power plant will feature thousands of acres of restored native grasslands while conserving water and reducing agricultural chemicals near a wildlife preserve (courtesy of Doral Renewables).