Renville County solar project one step closer to approval
The West Central Tribune reported today that an administrative law judge recommends the approval of a proposed 200-MW capacity solar installation in Renville county.
The project, Gopher State Solar, would be located within the Kingman, Osceola, and Bird Island Townships in Renville County. The project would span 1,667 acres, with 979 acres occupied by solar panels and infrastructure. The project would have panels aligned to the south and track the sun from east to west.
The administrative judge’s findings, filed June 2, recommends that the PUC approve the site permit and that the Chicago-based developer, Ranger Power, has met its legal obligations and sufficiently addressed public concerns. Construction would begin in the second quarter of 2026, with commercial operations beginning at the end of 2029. The PUC “is expected to consider the permit application possibly as early as July.”
The county had previously objected to the decommissioning plan:
Renville County has objected to Gopher State Solar’s plan to provide a bond to cover an estimated $1.4 million in decommissioning costs. The county stated that it believes the decommissioning costs could be as high as $21 million and that there is no way to know the value of the recycled materials to offset some of those costs.
Gopher State Solar has agreed to pay for the costs of an independent engineering analysis of the potential decommissioning costs as part of its permit. Butler noted the company’s offer to address the county’s concerns and includes it as part of the proposed permit.
The findings state that “approximately 1,107 acres” of the project’s total area of 1,645 acres is “considered to be prime farmland, which will be taken out of production for the anticipated 40-year life of the Project.” Forty years is an optimistic lifespan for solar panels, which are usually warrantied for 25 to 30 years, after which electricity generation drops markedly. Will the project seek repowering — with its attendant construction impacts — 10 or 20 years down the road?
In assessing the aesthetic impact, the findings also state that “how an individual viewer perceives the change from a field of corn to a field of solar panels depends, in part, on how a viewer perceives solar panels.” Some people love acres of solar panels as far as the eye can see, some don’t. Aesthetic impacts will be “moderate to significant” for nearby residents traveling local roads. “Minimal to moderate property value impacts could occur” but are difficult to determine.
Apparently, “The Project will provide up to 200 MW of annual capacity for reliable, renewable energy.” This doesn’t mean the project will provide 200 MW of power each year. Solar panels are intermittent, weather-dependent sources that operate less than 25 percent of the time — for the U.S. average, not Minnesota. If this is considered reliable, I think I’ll call up my boss and let him know that I’m now going to work at a quarter of my full capacity, on average. (Results pending).
The project documents can be found here.