California company eyeing Laramie County for solar farm
Nov. 4—CHEYENNE — An out-of-state company has filed an application to build and operate a potentially 150-megawatt solar power facility here in Laramie County.
It could be up and running at the end of next year. However, a local official noted this week there has been one deviation from an expected timeline.
The industrial siting permit application for the South Cheyenne Solar Energy Project was filed in October with the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality. The company, South Cheyenne Solar LLC, is a subsidiary of Hanwha Q Cells USA Corp., which is headquartered in Irvine, California.
The project would be located about nine miles south of Cheyenne on U.S. Highway 85 on unincorporated county land. It includes 1,391 acres of private and state-leased property.
The company had anticipated having a site plan application, as well as one for a high-power transmission line, submitted to the Laramie County Planning and Development Office in October. Planning manager Justin Arnold told the Wyoming Tribune Eagle on Thursday the county had not received either of these. He said there had not been any communication with the company about why, but the municipality would process these as soon as they were received.
A hearing before the Laramie County Board of Commissioners could happen by January, according to the firm's DEQ application.
If the company submits the required county applications by mid-November, it could still make this timeline work, Arnold said:
"It's not uncommon for things to get pushed back, you know, a couple of weeks, and, in some instances, even a couple of months, if some unforeseen circumstance or something comes up on the industrial siting side that they need to get taken care of first."
Construction
Construction is expected to cost $164.4 million. The estimated cost of materials is $136.9 million.
On site, there will likely be "a peak monthly average of 182 temporary construction jobs," and an average workforce of 113 over the 10-month construction period, according to the application. After the solar farm is up and running, there would be just one permanent, full-time employee.
The land the company says will be used for the project is currently used for livestock grazing, includes "limited infrastructure" and consists almost completely of grasslands. The project would consist of photovoltaic solar panel arrays, one substation, "and a 2.58-mile 115 kV interconnect transmission line to the new Black Hills Sweetgrass Substation," the application said.
Assuming the DEQ industrial siting application is approved, along with other required permits, South Cheyenne Solar plans to start construction in March. If things go as planned, the company says it will begin operations at the solar farm in December 2023.
The DEQ has 135 days from the submission of an application to either approve or deny it, according to the state agency's website. An open house was held Aug. 10 in Cheyenne "to provide the public and local governments with information about the project; and to gather feedback," the application said.
Development manager Demi Gastouniotis, the applicant for the project, declined to comment this week.
Location
The application says the location was chosen "due to the right combination of factors specific to Laramie County and to current conditions in the market for solar energy."
"Generated electricity can be delivered both to Wyoming customers and to the larger Intermountain West, positioning it as one of the least expensive and, therefore, most desirable sources of new power in the region," it reads.
The county's "experience with renewable development" — presumably, wind energy — "has also created a clear and fair regulatory environment" here. This combined with "willing landowners, a supportive local community, and experienced and knowledgeable county staff" makes the location extremely desirable, the application said.
The would-be solar site is "outside of core sage grouse areas and other areas of obvious environmental concern," relevant landowners "were interested in and willing to sign solar energy leases," and the location is close to existing infrastructure.
A socioeconomic impact analysis cited in the application found that the project would benefit the state and localities through job creation, tax revenues, increased production of renewable energy, more local spending and economic activity during construction, and new lease revenues for local landowners.
Hannah Black is the Wyoming Tribune Eagle's criminal justice reporter. She can be reached at hblack@wyomingnews.com or 307-633-3128. Follow her on Twitter at @hannahcblack.
