Latest solar farm to open this summer
Apr. 19—One of the largest solar projects in Indiana is expected to go online later this summer on the north side of Washington. The Indiana Municipal Power Agency will flip the switch in June on a 9.9-megawatt solar farm, the largest the agency has ever built.
"This is 56 acres and is comprised of 28,224 solar panels. It will produce 9.9 megawatts of electricity making it the largest in the IMPA portfolio," said IMPA Director of Marketing Communications Niki Vick.
The solar farm on Old Vincennes Road is more than three times the size of the operation IMPA built in 2016 behind the Perdue plant.
"The original park behind Perdue produced enough energy to run 450 homes. Washington Two will produce enough power to operate 1,900 homes," said Washington Mayor Dave Rhoads.
"It is one of their larger ones. This will have panels that rotate," said former IMPA commissioner and Washington City Councilman Randy Emmons. "It is a big solar field, about three or four times bigger than the previous one. They (IMPA) are putting these up in communities all over the state. This was no surprise. Some communities have three or four solar parks. It is pretty much where they can get the land and a community that is willing to work with them to bring it in."
Washington has been willing to work with the utility cooperative to add the solar park, annexing the property and providing a tax abatement on the development.
"We annexed that area. We have been purchasing power from IMPA for 40- plus years. They came to us asking to put in a solar park. In the end we annexed it and gave them a 10-year tax abatement, on a $19 million investment," said Rhoads.
In exchange the city will be the recipient of the power produced by the plant and more.
"The power produced from the solar park is strictly for our grid. When it is on line the energy will go to our line and by going directly into our system it should save us some money on the power we purchase going into our electrical system," said Rhoads. "They are excited about it. We gave up a tax abatement but it is going generate some good tax revenue on down the road. After the 10-year abatement, IMPA will be paying more than $80,000 in property taxes once the abatement goes off."
"It has brought contractors into the community to do work for them," added Emmons. "Of course, that has them spending time here, eating here and buying fuel."
Officials say the renewable energy operations also are a good sales tool for the community.
"It does cut down on the carbon footprint. We wind up not having to purchase as much power from the coal-fired plants. It is a positive environmental impact," said Emmons. "I think it is a very good thing. It shows people who are looking at our community that we are trying to reach out and have an impact on the environment. Some companies are all about that and it shows that we are trying."
"Renewable energy is a big thing nowadays. You hear about it all over the place. It is the way of the future," said Rhoads. "With this one sending the energy back into our grid it is an especially positive thing for Washington."
It is also a positive for the power provider as IMPA tries to move away from more traditional energy production and toward more renewable resources.
"This is part of our commitment to our communities to diversify our power generation and to expand our use of renewable resources," said Vick. "When this plant comes on-line this summer about 7.7% of our power will be coming from renewable sources. We have plenty of room to grow and add more solar facilities. We have five others under construction in various parts of Indiana."
The solar farm is getting finished at about the same time that Daviess County officials are looking to put new rules and regulations in place concerning solar operations. One of the rules being considered has to do with the impact the solar field might have on roads.
The new field was built on very sandy ground and the city has received some complaints of run-off issues during heavy rains.
"I heard some concerns," said Rhoads. "The run-off to the west is the biggest concern. We are going to work with the county on the ditching in that area to catch the run-off and direct that water."
Other than some of the wiring, most of the work on the solar park has been completed. A new transmission line is under construction that will connect the park to the city's electrical grid. Officials say they expect that line to be completed this summer and at that time they intend to put the solar farm into operation.
