Bethel Township Board approves 1,500-acre solar farm along Lockwood Road

Don Reid, Coldwater Daily Reporter
·2 min read
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BETHEL TWP. — The township board Monday night approved the special use permit for Branch Solar LLC to construct a 200-megawatt solar farm on 1,546 acres along Lockwood Road.

The planning commission approved the project in January. The township board gave approval but required the company to meet six conditions before construction can begin.

Tim Gehring of NorthStar Clean Energy represents the developer.
Tim Gehring of NorthStar Clean Energy represents the developer.

Township attorney Chuck Lillis will draft the special use permit resolution that requires a $25,000 escrow fee to cover all the legal and other costs of processing and reviewing the application.

Any money not expended in the process will be returned to the company. Tim Gehring, project manager for NorthStar Clean Energy said detailed engineering will now begin but expects it will be the end of the year before the develop seeks building permits.

The townships will require the develop to present it with detailed site plan showing equipment arrangement for the project substation near where the 138 KV grid line crosses Lockwood Road near Butcher Road.  

The township will also get copies of all permits from the road commission, drain commission, county building department, and permits required by the state.

The township board also wants Branch Solar LLC to update its required decommissioning plan every four years after the start of commercial operations to include an updated cost estimate for the financial resources necessary for decommissioning after the life of the project.

Under current state law solar farms remain agriculture land and can be returned to agriculture use at the end of the useful project life.

Bethel Township also will require a $250,000 three-year bond to address potential drainage issues resulting from the construction of the solar farm.

Prior story Major Bethel solar project ready for township final approval

The township board also allowed modification in fencing other than the required chain-link.

Bethel township property owners signed leases on 31 parcels of land totaling 1.534 acres. Branch Solar will fence 1,058 of these acres behind eight-foot fences with planted screening where required.

The township worked on a zoning ordinance for the last two years to provide control of the project and protection for the community.

Setbacks from non-participating properties are a minimum 50 feet, 25 feet from wetlands, and 100 feet from county drains.

A power substation will be built to connect the Bethel Twp. solar farm to the grid here on Lockwood Road.
A power substation will be built to connect the Bethel Twp. solar farm to the grid here on Lockwood Road.

Generally, the project is on both sides of Lockwood Road bound by Snow Prairie Road on the west and the township line on the east. That is half a mile east of Behnke Road. The north boundary is Fenn Road with Central Road on the south.

Besides the detailed engineering drawings, Gehring said the company is waiting for the interconnection agreement with the grid Midcontinent Independent System Operator.

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Gehring called the cost required to upgrade transmission to the project “reasonable.”

Branch Solar LLC “is fully subscribed” with power purchase agreements in place for the solar energy the solar cells will produce Gahring stated.

— Contact Don Reid: dReid@Gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter: @DReidTDR. 

This article originally appeared on Coldwater Daily Reporter: Bethel Township Board approves plan for 1,500-acre solar farm