BY NATE KING
Salina Post
During its Tuesday meeting, Saline County Commissioners said they need more information before deciding on whether or not to allow Oregon based solar power company, Shasta Power, to build a 1,000 acre solar panel project on county owned farm land.
Background information
During a study session in late February, county commissioners discussed the future plans for county facilities. These facilities also included county owned land. During that time the commission learned that Saline County had been approached by a solar company about the potential of leasing the county owned farm ground to build a solar farm.
In April, during a follow up discussion related to county owned properties, the commission directed staff to schedule one of the interested solar panel firms to give a presentation (page 67) to the commission.
During the meeting, Shasta Power, John Copyak, Ansley Dunning, and Boris Feldman presented information about the company including previous projects their firm has completed.
"Some of the bigger projects we've worked on range up to 11,050 megawatts, which is a relatively large size," Feldman said. "As I'm sure you've seen, renewable energy is a pretty burgeoning industry and we're definitely excited to be a part of it here."
The portion of land being discussed is located four miles southeast of Salina north of K-4, East of South Holmes Road, South of East Mentor Road, and West of South Woodward Road.
The size of the proposed solar project is not yet known, but Shasta Powers said the project footprint would be between 1,050 to 1,450 acres.
"While it is 1,000 acres, this would be about 150 megawatts, which would power approximately 3,800 homes with power," Copyak said.
Shasta said it has also been in communication with other private landowners surrounding the county's 763.7 acre parcel.
"Frankly, it's fairly sensitive right now as we're working out contracts with with a lot of the neighboring properties. We have some in place now but we are we are working with many of the neighbors," Copyak said. "The substation is at the corner of South Simpson and and East McReynolds Road, is probably the largest substation for 30 miles. But again, we are we do have some other sites going. One in Pittsburgh, another near Seward, Great Bend."
Copyak also noted that the project would add a total of 300 temporary jobs to construct the renewable energy facility.
Commissioners Weese, Vidricksen, and Shadwick said they want to have more information about the project before making a decision. Commissioners Sparks and Hay are on board with the idea.
Planning and zoning would have to make changes from agriculture to heavy industrial. One of the developers John Copyak said even before Shasta begins construction, they have the plan to decommission the site 30-35 years in the future.
"The actual useful life of solar panels is between 25 and 35 years. So once you put them out there, they continue to generate for a very, very long time. Now, at the end of their useful life, just like any other product, they do have to be removed and remediated. What we do now is we essentially take them apart, break them down to their most basic ingredients and recycle them So there is a recycling capacity that's available for these kinds of projects," Copyak said.
One other notable caveat to this project is the way in which Saline County acquired the land.
The land being sought to be used for the solar project was gifted to the county by Oliver Haag to be used for agriculture purposes. County Administrator Phillip Smith-Haynes told commissioners that they, the commission, will make the ultimate decision if the solar farm meets the request of Oliver Hagg will and estate for the use of the land.
"We understand there is an interest in farming," Feldman said. "I often say solar power is like farming the sun, the panels collect the sun and you collect the solar rays and you convert them into energy. It is a way to say we are truly farming, just a different output then crops."
Copyak said California is 50 percent powered by renewable power and it has a mandate to be fully renewable by 2040.
"Oregon also has a mandate to be fully renewable by 2040, and so so many states already have a mandate to be 100%, renewable," Copyak said. "Frankly, to be to meet that demand, they have to be contracted by 2035 and that is not that far away."
Copyak continued saying that Kansas needs to "get going" in order to keep up with other states.
"I hate to say this, whether or not you like renewable power, it's happening across the country. And and we need to, in my opinion, kind of get on board and kind of wean ourselves off of some of the old fossil fuels," Copyak said.
Commissioner Hay voiced his concerns for the project.
"You can't eat solar panels. If you take 1,000 acres away of agriculture land that is hard to swallow. You can make all the solar panels you want, but they're never gonna make any more ag land. ," Hay said.
Feldman responded saying that they are aware of that concern and are aware and appreciate the importance of farmers keeping communities fed.
"We hear you, you're not wrong," Feldman said. "We depend on the farmers to keep us fed. But with this project we won't be building for another few years, and our timing would wait until the expiration of the current lease on the land.you know, look, it's a real concern. But energy is also a concern. If you turn on your AC in the middle of the summer, and it's not working, because there isn't enough supply, that's an issue too."
The way that the project is developed and funded is through Shasta's "high net-worth investors."
The county commission thanked the representatives of Shasta for their presentation. County administrator Phillip Smith-Hanes said the commissioners will make the ultimate decision if the solar farm meets the request of Oliver Hagg will and estate for the use of the land as well as soliciting competitive proposals for the solar farm, pending the decision on the usage of the land.