<img height="1" width="1" style="display:none" src="https://www.facebook.com/tr?id=192888919167017&amp;ev=PageView&amp;noscript=1">
Thursday, March 28, 2024
March 28, 2024

Linkedin Pinterest

3,000+ acre solar farm wants WA permit to build in Benton County

By Annette Cary, Tri-City Herald
Published: May 19, 2022, 7:16am

KENNEWICK — A renewable energy company based in Canada has applied for a Washington state permit to develop a 470 megawatt solar project in Benton County.

When operating, it would be large enough to power about 70,000 households.

Innergex Renewable Energy plans the Wautoma Solar Energy Project for a remote northwest corner of the county about 1 mile south of the Highways 241 and 24 intersection.

The project would be west of the Hanford nuclear reservation site and about 12 miles northeast of Sunnyside.

It would cover about 3,000 to 3,500 acres and could include a four-hour battery storage system.

If the Washington state Energy Facility Site Evaluation Council (EFSEC) application is approved by summer 2023, construction could start as soon as early 2024. That would have the initial phase of the project producing electricity by summer 2025 at the earliest.

During construction about 300 to 400 people would be employed, with an additional 100 to 200 workers at peak construction, said Laura O’Neill, environment senior coordinator for Innergex.

Innergex made presentations this week on the solar project to both the Benton County Commission and to EFSEC.

During the 30 to 50 years the project operates, it would employ three to four technical workers and have a maintenance contract, O’Neill said.

The company strives to hire contractors and purchase locally, she said.

Innergex picked the site for the Wautoma project based on lots of sunshine, open and level land, access to transmission systems with enough capacity for the project and being not too far from urban areas.

“Most importantly the site has supportive land owners,” said Nuno Louzeiro, development director for Innergex Renewable Energy.

It will provide stable, long-term revenue to landowners, O’Neill said. It also will provide tax revenue for Benton County, including its schools.

The land is zoned for agricultural use and there are opportunities for some of the land to continue to also be used for agriculture, according to Innergex. That could include grazing sheep or maybe some crops in limited areas.

The land includes about 750 irrigated acres.

Landowners have told Innergex that it is “not the most productive land,” which was factored into selection of the site for a solar project, Louzeiro said.

Benton County Commissioner Shon Small said he liked solar because it has a smaller footprint that wind farms and is quieter.

Commissioner Will McKay said he liked that the proposed solar project it was “out in no man’s land” and would not be an eyesore.

In contrast, county officials have criticized the proposed Horse Heaven Wind Farm, a 112-square-mile clean energy production site with wind turbines that would stretch along 24 miles of the Horse Heaven Hills from south of Finley to south of Benton City.

Loading...