When a door closes, a window opens. Or in this case, when one solar farm proposal ends, another company steps forward.
OneEnergy, with offices in five states including Wisconsin, is proposing a 5-7 megawatt solar farm on about 47 acres of county land on the north side of state Highway 22 near Rose Brook Road.
Nolan Stumpf, a development manager with OneEnergy, explained the plans to the public property committee Dec. 11.
The solar panels themselves would be bifacial, that is two-faced, each about the size of a large door.
“They absorb sunlight from the front and the back, and that along with the single-axis tracker, which allows them to track the sun from east to west throughout the day, really boosts efficiency up to 25%,” Stumpf said.
He said a 5-7 megawatt project makes it cost-feasible to build.
At a high level, a successful project is dependent on three things: an interested landowner, a suitable physical site and nearby electrical infrastructure.
The Highway 22 location fits all of those criteria.
The Town of Belle Plaine site slopes to the south, which is desirable, Stumpf said.
“Our projects are tied to the local distribution system,” he said.
Upon questioning by Supervisor Tom Kautza, Stumpf said OneEnergy sometimes builds the project and then sells it to a utility company. Even in that case, the landowner (in this case, the county) maintains ownership of the land and benefits from any lease that is signed.
“We (also) have an obligation in the lease to return the site to pre-development condition,” Stumpf said, highlighting the importance of the company’s environmentally friendly philosophy.
OneEnergy has completed dozens of projects in Wisconsin, including a 7.5-megawatt solar farm in the Town of Hartland. Another project is under construction in Antigo.
Kautza said the lease provides three years for planning with payments of $4,000 per year.
During construction, the payment would be $250 per acre, and once operational, payments would be $800 per acre with a 2% increase each year for 30 years.
Five-year extensions of the lease are possible after that time.
Once a lease is signed, an interconnection study will be conducted, which can take up to six months. The permitting process would follow, with construction expected to begin in spring 2027.
A project expected to take up anywhere from 300-500 acres of the 630-acre county farm property was pulled in October when National Grid Renewables (now known as Geronimo Power) terminated its project “after assessing commercial viability.”
kpasson@newmedia-wi.com
