The Richland County Zoning and Land Information Committee, in April, unanimously approved development of a 49.9MW solar system on 500 acres of land that will be leased by three farmers in Buena Vista Township (see EnergyOnWI news, November 2018). This is the first large-scale solar project to be approved at the county level. Solar farms of 100 MW or larger are regulated by the Public Service Commission, while those below that threshold are subject to county zoning and permitting. Savion, LLC, formerly Tradewind Energy, is in the early stages of developing the solar project that is projected to be operational in 2021. It will consist of pole-mounted solar trackers to be underplanted with pollinator plants. Savion will develop and operate the solar system, and is responsible to decommission the system at the end of its 30-year life.
The solar project is expected to provide $233,500 annually in increased tax revenue to the county, township, school district and technical college. It will provide income to the landowners, and approximately 300 jobs to the local economy during construction, with 2-3 permanent jobs to operate and maintain the solar project after completion. For more info see RENEW