As it works to meet aggressive clean energy requirements, Oregon just authorized the largest solar farm in the state and among the largest in the nation on over 10,000 acres of active farming in Morrow County.
In order to counteract the detrimental effects on the local agricultural sector, the huge project also employs a unique strategy.
In addition to over 4 million solar panels that can generate up to 1,200 megawatts of power—enough to supply 800,000 homes with emission-free electricity for a year—Sunstone Solar will also have a battery energy storage system that can store up to 7,200 megawatts.
A sizable portion of agricultural land will cease to be produced as a result of Sunstone’s proposal. Approximately 15 miles southeast of Boardman, on a 10,960-acre plot of private land, it will take up 9,442 acres.
That’s around 7,000 football fields’ worth of space. The area has been used to grow dryland winter wheat and is classified for exclusive farm use. A third of the property includes water rights, and more than half is high-value farming.
The Energy Facility Siting Council, a state agency that regulates the location of major energy plants, gave the project its approval last month. It is anticipated that construction will start in 2026.
In order to meet Oregon’s ambitious climate goals, innumerable renewable energy projects, including Sunstone Solar, are going online. They mandate that by 2030, Oregon’s two largest electricity providers, Portland General Electric and Pacific Power, cut greenhouse gas emissions related to electricity sales by 80%, and by 2040, all electricity sources must be emission-free.
Farmers and other rural supporters have recently criticized the negative effects that solar farms can have on local agriculture and farming-oriented economies, citing the loss of local farm-related income and the reduction of access to property.
Five years ago, Oregon limited solar installation on prime farmland in response to similar worries. In regions with the best soil for farming, solar panels are permitted on up to 12 acres, while in regions with poor soil and no water rights, solar farms may be established on up to 320 acres.
However, there was a flaw in the limits. They permit solar developers to construct significantly larger solar farms on agricultural property by requesting an exception. According to Christopher Clark, a siting specialist with the state Department of Energy, they need to demonstrate that the project has an advantage because of its location, would boost the county economy, and would result in a little loss of valuable farmland.
According to Clark, almost all solar facilities that have been approved by the council need an exception since they simply occupy more land than is permitted by the regulations. The majority of the proposed complexes in recent years have spanned thousands of acres.
According to the state’s Land Conservation and Development Commission’s 2022–2023 Farm & Forest Report, since 2011, 34 solar projects have received exceptions from either the state siting council or a county, making up the majority of the state’s authorized solar capacity and acreage.
Because the site is close to existing transmission infrastructure, there is a limited supply of water, and the project will generate a net economic benefit locally, the siting council decided to approve Sunstone Solar after finding that the project developer, Pine Gate Renewables, based in North Carolina, met the requirements for an exception.
The impact of solar production extends far beyond the temporary construction jobs or payments made to private landowners for the lease of lands.
The developer will donate $1,179 per acre, or up to almost $11 million for the 9,400 acres, to a new agricultural mitigation fund created up with Morrow County at the beginning of construction. The county will manage the fund, which will allocate funds to dryland winter wheat growing programs.
Due to government subsidies, attractive renewable energy policies, and falling construction costs, giant solar farms have become commonplace in recent years. Even though Oregon has a relatively limited solar footprint, the state already has 212 megawatts of solar arrays spread across 1,546 acres, and another 200 megawatts are being built on roughly 3,000 acres. Much larger solar farms are in the works.
The Oregon Department of Energy said in December that the state had authorized roughly 2,800 megawatts of solar power on 27,473 acres and is currently evaluating projects that might generate an additional 3,200 megawatts on 29,975 acres.
For instance, Morrow County will also host the recently authorized 500 megawatt Wagon Trail Solar project, which will be situated on 7,450 acres adjacent to Sunstone Solar’s location.
One of the biggest solar farms in the United States will be Sunstone Solar. However, it will be insignificant compared to the largest in the world, which was brought online earlier this year in northwest China. The 33,000-acre Xinjiang solar farm can generate 3,500 megawatts of electricity, which is sufficient to power over a million homes.
Gosia Wozniacka discusses a variety of environmental topics, including climate change, environmental justice, and the switch to sustainable energy. You may contact her at 971-421-3154 or [email protected].
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