By CRISTINA JANNEY
Hays Post
Representatives from developers ibV were in Hays on Thursday for an open house about their proposed Tallgrass solar facility.
The ibV team shared maps of the proposed location of the facility and more information about construction, permitting and transmission of power from the facility.
IbV is requesting a conditional-use permit for a 175MW, $275 million solar facility in southwest Ellis County.
The facility will be bordered on the north by Mt. Pleasant Road, on the west by Yocemeto Road, on the south by Munjor Road and on the west by 170th Avenue.
Kaw Pipline and other right-of-ways
The question had been raised at a recent Ellis County Commission meeting about the Kaw Pipeline intersecting the property ibV plans to develop.
The Kaw Pipeline does intersect the very northeast section of the land ibV intends to lease. The pipeline's right-of-way overrides any right ibV would have to develop that land.
IbV's development plan does not have any solar arrays in the Kaw Pipeline right-of-way, a nearby wetland area or in the right-of-way of multiple existing oil wells in the area.
Tom Cable, ibV permitting manager, said ibV plans to meet or exceed all county zoning laws and setback requirements. The Joint Ellis County Planning Commission has already recommended approval of the conditional-use permit.
Construction
Steven Link, ibV senior project developer, said the developer is still working with Ellis County on a road plan, but he said construction materials and equipment would likely be brought in from Interstate 70 down Yocemento Road or 170th Avenue.
Link said the solar panels will be trucked in by a standard semi-truck, with shipments arriving to coincide with the phases of the build-out. The transformer for the project will be a one-time oversized load and might require temporary traffic accommodations.
Jack Leesnitzer, planning and engineering manager, offered more details on the project's construction phase.
The support piles for the solar panels would be pounded into the ground rather than being secured by concrete. When they are eventually removed, they will be pulled out.
Link said one guest at the event expressed concern about vibration during the piling installation. However, the company can predrill holes if it finds it is running into thicker bedrock, he said.
The solar facility will be connected to the Southwest Power Pool through an existing high-voltage power line in the area. However, the lines connecting the solar panels to substations will be underground.
The area underneath the panels would be left in native grass. Leesnitzer also showed an example of fencing around a similar facility. However, he said fencing might differ depending on the wildlife in the area and what would be needed to allow them to traverse the property.
Environmental concerns
Augsutine was at the open house on Thursday, along with at least one other member of the local Audoboun chapter.
Some neighbors to the property have also expressed concern about potential environmental impacts of the facility, with some of those concerns focusing on disasters such as hail, tornado and fire.
SEE RELATED STORY: Planning Commision sends solar project to Ellis County Commission
Need for power
Declan Crouse, associate director of transmission and interconnection, discussed the growing demand for power in Kansas and across the country.
The Southwest Power Pool has forecast 4% annual energy demand growth through 2034.
Crouse said not only is residential and commercial power demand increasing, but data center development across the country is also expected to drive energy prices from $25 per MWh to $40 per MWh by 2035.
The county commission has not discussed the possibility of a data center coming to Ellis County. Although companies like to locate data centers near power sources, Crouse said, the centers require significant water for cooling.
Although the power grid will likely continue to use a combination of traditional power sources, Crouse said many of those plants are aging. He said new solar facilities can help maintain the reliability of the power grid.
Permits, next steps
IbV still needs to meet several conditions of its requested permit, including entering into a payment-in-lieu-of-taxes agreement with the county and having a road maintenance plan in place.
The Ellis County Commission delayed action on Tuesday on approving a set of agreements related to the development.
Those agreements would hire legal and technical consultants to review the project’s complex documents. The conditional-use permit will eventually come back to the county commission for approval.
Because of the number of protest petitions filed against the project, unanimous approval will be required.