By Wayne Gates
The approval process continues for a 610 acre commercial solar farm coming to Brown County.
The property is on the Clermont/Brown county line and is located in Tate Township in Clermont County and Clark Township in Brown County.
In Brown County, the footprint runs southwest to northeast between Leonard Road to the south and Vandament Road to the north.
The project is being built by Lendlease Energy Development, which is an Australian company with projects all around the world. Approximately 300,000 solar panels will be used to generate up to 80 megawatts of electricity.
The project is called “Nestlewood” and construction is expected to begin later this year, pending approval by the Ohio Power Siting Board.
The OPSB held a public hearing held at the Hamersville School on May 30. About 30 community members attended, as well as representatives from Nestlewood.
Both positive and negative comments were registered, with the majority of the negative comments concerning the construction process, water runoff, possible toxicity of damaged solar panels and disruption to wildlife.
In an e-mail to Lendlease Spokesman Ola Fadahunsi, Lendlease addressed the following questions. Questions from The Brown County Press will be in italics.
Some neighbors have alleged that the company has not been forthcoming with specific answers to their concerns about landscaping, runoff and other issues. What is your response to those who feel the company has not answered their concerns?
“This project is still in its initial stages but we are working hard to provide complete answers to the community’s questions. We have notified the project’s neighbors about initial plans and we remain open and available at any time to speak with neighbors about their concerns. We are committed to being a responsible partner of the eastern Brown County and western Clermont County community and finding solutions that work for both the public and the project.”
What was your overall impression of the public hearing?
“The hearing was an important opportunity for community members to voice their concerns and the post-hearing discussion with neighbors was especially productive.”
What steps will the company take moving forward to ensure a positive relationship with nearby residents?
“We will continue to engage with nearby residents as we progress to the engineering design phase of the project.”
What else would you like community members to know as the project progresses?
“We are committed to this project and being good neighbors. Members of the community can call Joe Jordan, our project manager, at 214-662-5851 with questions about the project at any time. In addition, the full OPSB application can be found on the OPSB website at http://dis.puc.state.oh.us/CaseRecord.aspx?Caseno=18-1546&link=DIVA.”
The next step in the process is an Adjudicatory Hearing on June 13 before the OPSB in Columbus. The hearing will be the last opportunity for proponents and opponents of the project to state their case before the board. Following an opportunity for both sides to present written briefs and reply briefs to the board, public input will close. The OPSB will then make a decision on the project.
There is no direct deadline for such an approval, but similar decisions have been made within 60-90 days.
If the project is approved as expected, construction will take approximately ten months and electricity will begin being generated next year.
Lendlease will use underground electrical lines to dump the electricity onto the Duke Energy power grid. Duke already has above ground distribution lines running through footprint of the project which will connect to the project.
According to an application filed with the state, 157 construction workers will be needed to complete the project, resulting in a $10 million contribution to the local economy.
Once construction is complete, the company said that three permanent maintenance jobs will be created for the life of the project.
According to the application, “The project will consist of solar panel generators, as well as access roads, 34.5-kilovolt (kV) electrical collector cables, meteorological stations, a facility substation (the Project Substation), a utility-owned switchyard (Utility Switchyard), and 69-kV electric generation tie (gen-tie) line within an area of approximately 610 acres (the Project Area). “
The application also claims that “In the summer time, the Project will produce sufficient power during portions of the day to supply approximately 16,000 households.”
The company is telling the state that there are no plans to expand the project beyond the current 610 acres.
Tax abatements have been given to the company to encourage construction, but Lendlease is telling the state that approximately $560,000 a year will be paid to Clermont and Brown counties in lieu of taxes. There was no breakdown in the application as to what Brown County’s share would be.
The company did not release figures on expected revenue generation, but did tell the state in the application that any delay in the project would result in $550,000 in lost revenue per month.
