Developer Targets Opportunity Zones for Solar Projects
(photo courtesy of Solar United Neighbors)
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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowSouth Bend-based Hoosier Solar Holdings LLC has launched an initiative to bring a number of solar power and battery storage projects to rural areas of the state designated as Qualified Opportunity Zones. The solar development company says the projects have the potential to generate a combined 1,600 megawatts of electricity, which is enough to power some 285,000 homes. Chief Executive Officer Carl Weatherley-White says Indiana has remarkable resources for solar power, which can bring multiple benefits.
Weatherley-White says developing large solar projects is best done in more rural, less-developed areas of the state.
“Some solar projects are quite small and they can be sited right where the power is needed,” said Weatherley-White. “But for larger projects, you really need land and hopefully areas that do not impinge upon towns or other things. And so, given the magnitude of the power that is needed by the state utilities to replace the power that was produced by coal-fired generation, you really do need large projects and that’s one of the reasons. The other reason is really some of the rural parts of Indiana are the low- and moderate-income communities that would best benefit from some of the economic benefits of these projects.”
Hoosier Solar is partnering with Inovateus Solar, also based in South Bend, which will serve as the provider of engineering, procurement and construction services for the project. Inovateus is also leading the engagement efforts with landowners throughout the state.
In addition to providing more clean energy for the state, Weatherley-White says landowners and communities will see additional benefits.
“[The projects] will pay rent to the landowners and so the farmers are going to see steady, reliable income and they will then likely recycle that into the community in the form of buying things and spending money,” he said. “Also, the counties will benefit from increased taxes. So, these projects will create a tax base and so that will create a long-term economic benefit to the community. And then finally, there will be skilled jobs.”
Hoosier Solar says it plans to use an Indiana-based workforce not only to build the solar facilities, but also utilize the state’s manufacturing sector by purchasing finished equipment and raw materials from Hoosier suppliers.
“We will train and hire locally as much as we can and that will have not only an immediate impact during the construction and development of these projects, but also by creating a skilled workforce that can then use that skill for other jobs in the future,” said Weatherley-White.
He says Hoosier Solar has spent a lot of time working with local officials and meeting with landowners to address concerns and answer as many questions as possible.
“The feedback has been very strong in a good way. It’s been very positive, I would say,” he said. “I think the economic benefits, the recognition that Indiana is moving towards renewable energy I think resonate with people and I think they recognize that they would benefit from that. But, I would say there are also very legitimate questions about what these large projects would mean for the community, what kind of impact it would have visually.”
Weatherley-White says the initial focus of the initiative will be on solar projects, though battery storage projects will be on the radar in the future. He says the company aims to begin construction within 18-24 months with the first solar facilities coming online in late 2023 or early 2024.
Weatherley-White says developing large solar projects is best done in more rural, less-developed areas of the state.
Weatherley-White says Hoosier Solar has spent a lot of time working with local officials and meeting with landowners to address concerns and answer as many questions as possible.