Emden solar begins approval processes
Logan County Regional Planning Commission recommends

 

[October 04, 2018]  LINCOLN 

On Wednesday, October 3, the Logan County Regional Planning Commission heard about the application for community solar farm project in Emden and considered whether to recommend the Zoning Board of Appeal approve a special use to allow the construction of the four-megawatt solar farm.

Guests were Project Development Manager Daniel Solorzano for Forefront Power and Senior Engineer Brian Schaffer for TRC Solutions.

Solorzano handed out site plans for the proposed solar project. He said Forefront Power has been in business for ten years and had more than 1,000 megawatts of solar projects throughout over 23 states. Right now, they are working mainly in New York and Maryland.

Solorzano said in Illinois they have more than 100 megawatts of two megawatt projects and applications submitted all over Illinois. Solarzano said there are many applications out for Illinois’ solar program, but they do not know how many of the projects are going to go through. Part of the company’s involvement in Illinois is related to the Future Energy Jobs Act.

Solorzano said the state of Illinois is pushing to have more than 400 megawatts of solar power in generation by 2030 and they are doing it in blocks. The first block is opening in 2018 with about 150 megawatts.

Solorzano said due to the number of applications, it will be based on a “lottery system” and the program will open on January 15. There are a lot of financial incentives to the developers and owners of the facilities to be able to interconnect.

Solorzano said the community benefits by joining the community solar program and get credits on the power bill if they sign up. The county would receive increased property taxes on the value of the property.

Ruben asked if he had any idea on the figures. He said the state is working on that.

Schaffer said he has not seen the amounts yet.

Solorzano said projects can still be developed if they do not get chosen in the lottery but would not get the financial incentives from the state, so it would not be as economically attractive.

Solorzano said to be eligible for the program, they must have two items. One is a permit approving the site they are proposing and the other is an interconnection agreement with the utility, which is Ameren.

Solorzano said the parcel is 160 acres at 2683 600th Avenue in Emden. The lease area will be in a 31-acre plot on the west side of the parcel. Solorzano said there will be two sites there that are two megawatts.

Zoning Officer Will D’Andrea said it would be considered two separate projects.
Solorzano said they are reaching it through a 15-foot access road to allow a one-ton truck through. He said there will only be people going in four or five times a year since it is a very “low maintenance” facility.

Solorzano said there will be a low noise level of about 60 decibels, the level for human conversations. He said light pollution will be low as well since they are not proposing any lighting within the facility. There will just be one “motion sensing light” that will be installed at the entrance of the project premises.

Solorzano said the panels will not have glare because they use a polarized material.

Solorzano said the current land use for the parcel is agricultural and it needs to be switched to an A2 zone. The setback will be about 1,200 feet from the nearest neighbor and 2,000 feet from the nearest residence at 600th Avenue.

Solorzano said there will be a 60-foot module setback around perimeter of the property. It would be 100 feet away from the floodplain on the property.

Solorzano said the site itself will be surrounded by a six-foot chain-link fence with about a foot of barbed wire on top of it.

Solorzano then asked for questions.

Commission member Blair Hoerbert asked which parcel would be developed first, the north or the south section.

Solorzano said it would most likely be the south section due to the floodplain location, but it would depend on which application was selected in the lottery system.

Commission member Dave Schonauer asked about the life span of solar farms.

Solorzano said they typically do a 20-year lease and the life span of the panels is between 20 and 30 years. After that, there will be a decommissioning plan, so it can go back to farmland if the owner wants it to.

Logan County Board Chairman Chuck Ruben asked what they would plant under the panels.

Solorzano said they would use a pollinator seed mix. Schaffer said they would be calling about that tomorrow and will work with the Soil Conservation District locally.

Schonauer asked whether this one was the first application in the county.

D’Andrea said it is the first application and it is a little unusual in that they are making two separate applications to the state for two different two-megawatt projects. The company is walking a “delicate balance” between putting a lot of money into designing the project verses just getting through the process.

D’Andrea said as it goes through the Zoning Board of Appeals, the ZBA would have to look closely at the conditions and see if they need more detail. The decommissioning plan and Agricultural Impact Mitigation Agreement will need to be set up as conditions.

Schaffer said the project will be subject to state permits.

Ruben asked if there would be power run out to the panels or whether they would self-generate.

Board member Dave Blankenship said they are usually self-generating.

Logan County Highway Engineer Bret Aukamp had several questions.

Aukamp said the proposed access is near the railroad crossing on 600th Avenue and said he was concerned about how they would navigate delivery trucks and be able to turn around right off the driveway.

Schaffer said they will look further at such details when they do a site plan.

Aukamp said he would recommend to the ZBA that the applicants may need an access permit on 600th Avenue.

Aukamp asked about drainage because the site is not flat and will cross drainage areas.

Schaffer said they do not anticipate any kind of leveling and will locate the drainage areas and wetlands and try to avoid them. They will fix any broken drainage tiles. He said they would do a more definite engineering plan if the project is picked.

Aukamp asked how power would be transmitted and connected to the grid.

Solorzano said there is an interconnection equipment path right at the end of the access road. They will install from that path to an existing three phase pole at 600th Avenue at the intersection of the gravel access road and the railroad. From that point, it will be underground. They will use existing Ameren facilities.

Aukamp asked if the line has enough capacity to handle four-megawatt input.

Solorzano said that is part of the interconnection agreement they have with Ameren. They do have a level two and level four storage and Ameren gives them the upgrade costs required to withstand that amount of power generation. The substation is at the intersection of West Street and 2600th Street.

Schaffer said they are hoping it will all be put at one substation. They will have the inverter in the field and transformers at the substation. Some upgrades to wires may be needed to handle the amount of power.

Aukamp asked about landscape screening.

Schaffer said there was not any on the plan, but it could be added.

D’Andrea said in some cases, they require some type of visual barrier.

Aukamp asked about a requirement for rural reference signage. He recommended it be a ZBA condition, so if they ever needed to call 911, the site could be located more easily.

D’Andrea said one recommended condition would be a fire turnaround. There are no rules on the signage though.

Dave Schonauer made a motion for the Regional Planning Commission to recommend the ZBA approve the solar farm and all members present approved it.

Commission members present were Blair Hoerbert, Jeff Hoinacki, Phil Pickett, Dave Schonauer, Jim Vipond and Becky Werth.

The Zoning Board of Appeals will hold a public hearing at the San Jose Methodist Church on Thursday, October 4 at 7:30 p.m.

[Angela Reiners]