On January 11th, the Utah-based Sustainable Power Group held a community meeting at Craig's Baptist Church to provide information about their proposed 3,500 acres solar farm off West Catharpin road in Spotsylvania. The located was selected due to its size and proximity to a Dominion Electric sub-station.
Last year, the County Planning Department recently updated the County Ordinance covering Solar Farms in anticipation of new investment in this area.
Sustainable Power Group hopes to begin constructing their 500-megawatt solar farm in August 2018 with a completion date of late 2019. They estimated the project to be a $600 million investment and provide enough energy to power 82,000 homes a year.
Overall the project would cover 6,350 acres with 3,500 acres dedicated to the solar farm. A 50-feet buffer would be used between adjacent properties. Sustainable Power Groups expects the solar farm to create 10-15 permanent full-time jobs after the project is completed.
Initial opposition was presented by the Spotsylvania Hunt Club that has used these tracts of land for hunting the last two decades.
The Free Lance Star Editorial Board also highlighted the environmental impacts of the solar farm. They estimated that as much as 400 million gallons of water could be needed for installation and 7 million gallons per year to keep the solar panels clean.
It would be the largest solar farm in Virginia and one of the largest on the East Coast.
Click here to read Jeff Branscome's Free Lance Star article for more details.
Click here to read Jeff Branscome's Free Lance Star article covering the community meeting.
Click here to read a Free Lance Star Editorial Board article for a regional perspective.
