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Group cultivating solar farming in Stoddard County
A group of individuals have come together in Stoddard County for an opportunity at a renewable energy source that is starting to become more prevalent in the market. With the help of John Bollinger and Bollinger Real Estate Services of Sikeston. Mo., Orion Renewable Energy Group of Oakland, Calif., has been looking at land in Stoddard County to install solar farms.
Area in the works includes two different portions of land within the county.
“There are no operational solar sites in Missouri,” Orion Project Development Manager Justin Wolf said. “We have noticed a lot of commercial and industrial customers in the last few years have woken up to the idea of renewable energy.”
While about 25 percent through the process of a solar farm becoming a reality in Stoddard County, Wolf said the entire process through construction and operation can take up to six years.
“We are hoping for 2021 or 2022, but it may take a little longer,” he said. “I feel like we are pretty far ahead, but we are still in the early stages of development.”
Stoddard County land was chosen by Orion through an in-depth analysis performed by the privately owned company with over 50 operating projects in the U.S.
“Through our analysis we look for sunny areas, availability on transmission lines, analysis on spot market price for energy and land use and availability,” Wolf said. “We looked at all the criteria and it pointed to this area as a good place to develop.”
Before committing to Stoddard County, Wolf began talking with land owners about leasing land a little over a year ago.
As of now, 1,700 acres has been leased for the solar farms. However, Wolf said, not all of that acreage will be “useable.”
Account has to be taken for wetland areas, floodplain, setbacks, existing improvements or easements. Of that useable area, the ground coverage ratio can vary depending on whether or not the space is constrained.
“As of right now, we predict about 30 percent, but that can change,” he said.
Wolf said the land leases are “pretty long” and driven by the utility process and length of time the panels are operational.
The leases, according to Wolf, are typically 20 to 30 years and the solar panels have an average life of 40 years.
If landowners decide to not renew their lease or something happens to Orion in the mean time, Wolf said the company is contractually obligated to remove all the equipment and restore the land back to its previous state.
The value of the equipment, Wolf said, far outweighs the cost of removing.
“We will need to find and ultimate buyer for energy before we build,” Wolf said. “A project may be able to sell some portion of on to the spot market, but the bulk needs a buyer before construction.”
According to Wolf, the company has been working with Ameren to undergo studies that would allow the solar farm to plug energy from the project to transmission lines.
Most of the electrical interconnection studies have been completed, but the interconnection agreement with Ameren has not been signed. Negotiations are underway.
The environmental work will be the next step, Wolf said. This includes looking into the species of animals and plants on the land as well as wetland and floodplain assessments.
Once all the land is approved, Orion then typically subcontracts for installation of the solar panels.
Beams are placed into the ground with connected racks and the panels being placed on top.
The panels, which shift east to west to take advantage of the sun, set about two feet off the ground with about 20 feet between each set of rows for access.
An inverter will be placed at the end of the solar panel rows to make the energy move through underground lines. This will lead to the project substation and from there will go out on an overhead line into Ameren’s system.
The panels are about 80” x 48” each and one area of land is expected to be up to 40 megawatts and the other up to 50 megawatts.
To put the numbers in perspective, depending on the strength of the solar resource and amount of consumption per household, Wolf estimates approximate 8,000 to 9,000 homes could be powered by a 50 megawatt project with about 150,000 panels on the land.
While Wolf said solar farms are not a huge job creator for the county, construction lasts about six months and employs up to 300 people.
“You could see an economic pop from construction time,” he said.
These jobs can be hired from local companies and individuals if they have the capability to perform the work, Wolf said.
While the two solar farms are located in Ameren service territory, Orion could sell energy to other customers outside of their service area.
“A lot of town’s energy could theoretically be supplied by solar energy,” Wolf said. “It can be used as a recruiting tool for manufacturing and industry.”
Wolf also added with the Investment Tax Credit expiring in 2023, that is something the company would “definitely be trying to take advantage of” as well as any other incentives.
He added prices of solar energy is expected to decline, so by the time the tax credit expires, solar is expected to be “at a good place economically.”
If any landowners in close proximity to the substations that are currently being developed are interested in participating in the project, Bollinger can be contacted at 573-471-6448, or by email at jdbollinger@sbcglobal.net.
“We’d be glad to consider additional acreage if it fits well into the project plan,” Bollinger said.
Bollinger and Wolf came together when Wolf was searching for a local broker with farmland experience to help contact and sign up landowners that would be willing to participate in the project.
“He found us through a web search and noticed our extensive experience in farmland real estate sales and appraisals,” Bollinger said. “He called and explained who they are and what they were working on and set up a time to come visit. We were intrigued by the project and agreed to help.”
While Bollinger explained his company does not have experience in solar farms, they find it interesting and like the idea of producing renewable energy locally.
“We are super, super excited to be here,” Wolf said. “We feel like these are great sites and we have a lot of good support from land owners and the community.”