It is planning a The exception was issued for the Chalkley Solar Project, named for a historic local family who founded the company that is leasing the land to Aurora. Among the wind turbine developments D.E. Last month, Lightsource bp started construction on Ventress Solar, the largest solar farm in Louisiana, which it will own and operate on 1, 800 acres of land in Pointe Coupe Parish. Amazon is planning solar farms in St. Landry and Morehouse parishes as part of the online giants efforts to be entirely dependent on renewable energy by 2025. Commissioner Foster Campbell, North Louisiana representative on the LPSC, said the Bayou Galion Solar Project will generate 98 megawatts of clean, renewable electricity on 1,080 acres near Mer Rouge. Shaw Investments is supporting seven utility-scale projects in Louisiana, while eight other businesses from startups to big players from inside and outside the United States are behind nine other large-scale solar projects in various stages across the state. Louisianas first utility-scale solar farm, which is 50 megawatts, is in West Baton Rouge Parish and is being connected to the power grid under a 20-year power supply contract with Entergy, which has two open requests for proposals. Solar development is largely in its infancy in Louisiana, with only a handful of projects having been constructed to date. The farm is located just north of La. D.E. Shaw Investments are under construction: the Iris project in Washington Parish on LSU AgCenter property and in St. James Parish totaling another 70 megawatts of solar power for the grid in 2021. Rural residents have complained of unsightly developments. SWEPCO and sister company Public Service Company of Oklahoma also own and operate the 1,484 MW North Central Energy Facilities in north central Oklahoma. A second solar project of previously unforeseen capacity could be coming to Louisiana, as local officials in Calcasieu Parish on Lake Charles, midway between New "I think one of the big challenges that we're seeing here is that solar power, wind power or renewable energy shouldn't just mean a higher cost (for ratepayers)," said Jessica Hendricks, state policy director for the Alliance for Affordable Energy, a New Orleans-based nonprofit organization. Who owns all these solar 'farms' across Louisiana? Galehead boasted one project with a "Southeastern U.S.-based landowner who owns approximately 400,000 acres across 500 distinct parcels spanning four states." News item from D. E. Shaw Renewable Investments. The farm is located just north of La. Why these Louisiana fossil fuel land scouts are jumping into the solar power business, Who owns all these solar 'farms' across Louisiana? Fervo Energy Plans Direct Air Capture Facility Powered By Geothermal Heat & Electricity, 2023 Global Energy Trends: Crisis, Contingencies, & Climate Change (Video Included! The company has been led by Erik Stuebe since 2008 and has brokered deals with utilities such as Duke Energy, Pacific Gas and Electric and Georgia Power, among others. Some votes head to rural residents. It could produce 50 megawatts of power. Advertise with CleanTechnica to get your company in front of millions of monthly readers. 2023 By 2022 Entergy expects to have 381 megawatts of solar in its Arkansas portfolio.. Overall, D.E. John Bel Edwards. WebTo date, we operate solar projects in 29 states, and the Beauregard Solar Project will be among the first solar projects in Louisiana. St. James Solar III LLC is looking at the same intersection in Vacherie for a $100 million project to produce 90 megawatts of electricity. Entergy noted that new requests for proposals are expected in the coming years as part of a recurring series of RFPs for renewable resources to support ongoing Entergy Louisiana energy needs to capitalize on the improving economics of solar and potentially offer other technologies relative to conventional resources.. Entergy Louisiana is purchasing the power generated by Capital Region Solar, a 50-megawatt solar plant constructed in West Baton Rouge Parish, under a 20-year There was a problem saving your notification. Shaw's Louisiana projects are among a much larger nationwideportfolio controlled by the hedge fund producing more than 2,900 megawatts of power generated from the sun and more than 500 megawatts from wind, records show.. Thibodaux Solar Project LLC looks to spend $200 million on a 200 megawatt solar farm in Lafourche Parish near Rosedown Drive and Levert Road in Thibodaux. Looking for a local installer? So would a $145 million project proposed in Singer. Rocking R represents DESRIs first contract with SWEPCO, DESRIs first solar project in northern Louisiana, and the first utility-scale solar project built in the parish. . Ecoplexus has deals with customers such as Fortune 500 companies Medtronic and Ecolab, in addition to privately held businesses like Andersen Windows and Doors. "We want to work with the parish to address their concerns and find a middle ground," he said. Of the 16 solar power farms proposed in Louisiana, nearly half are controlled by an East Coast hedge fund with an appetite for solar and wind projects contained in a growing $15 billion renewable power portfolio. There is a seventh solar project on the books not yet seeking incentives. Notify me of follow-up comments by email. This is a part of the West Baton Rouge Solar Farm. Recurrent was chosen by the 1803 Electric Cooperative to be part of its portfolio of energy-supply projects to satisfy the next 20 years of demand from five Louisiana rural electric co-ops: Claiborne Electric, Northeast Louisiana Power, Washington-St. Tammany Electric, South Louisiana Electric Cooperative and Beauregard Electric. WebWe are planning to build, own and operate a privately funded $170 million renewable energy project that will deliver electricity into the local grid, helping with Louisianas energy independence and energy security. The solar farm has over 100,000 individual solar panels and is off of Rosedale Road. 21 and Parish Road 88. If you're looking for information about local solar companies, check out EnergySage'slist of solar companies in Louisiana, where you can check out information about each company and see real customerreviews. Shaw has signed deals with utilities such as Entergy New Orleans,but also with business customers such as Facebook for solar projects out West. If you continue to use this website without changing your cookie settings or you click "Accept" below then you are consenting to this. An estimated 300 people will be needed during the peak period of construction. That's enough to provide electricity for about 220,000 homes in Louisiana, according toestimatesfrom the Solar Energy Industries Association, a trade group, and would constitute about a quarter of Entergy Louisiana's current total power production. This information came from an advance notification filed with Louisianas economic development office. The company doesn't typically invest in projects unless "power purchase agreements" at least 15 years or longer are available to justify financing used for solar power development. A smaller 50-megawatt project in Washington Parish, located on Sunlight Road in Franklinton would cost $56 million, support 200 construction jobs and one job once done in 2023. Canadian Solar subsidiary Recurrent Energy is leading the development, a 98 megawatt project on 1,000 acres for $98 million. In June, a new proposal process began and Entergy expects to start negotiations soon with companies interested in building three additional solar farms in West Baton Rouge, East Feliciana and Morehouse parishes, if power purchase contracts are awarded. That's the most valuable real estate, accessible to rail and river, and it's just taking away so many opportunities that could be other clean projects, as well, you know, that could actually bring jobs, and that's what our concern is," Dufresne told a few solar, utility and media representatives after a recent Parish Council meeting. Power from those farms would go to Entergy Louisiana, which supplies power to St. James, Baton Rouge, New Orleans and many other parts of the state. Rural Louisiana could see 7 new large-scale solar projects worth nearly $1 billion; see map. The Bayou Galion solar project is expected to start construction and begin operation in 2024. Both projects are expected to reach commercial operation in mid Smoke from burning sugar cane fields creeps into this part of the West Baton Rouge Solar Farm. Mooringsport and Wagon Wheel are expected to come online in December 2025. Thibaut said he believes his parish has struck a balance between protecting agriculture and allowing some economic diversification in strategic locations with an industry that has a low impact on water, roads and local services, like fire and police. Bayou Galion Solar Projfect LLC, which is a subsidiary of Recurrent Energy Development Holdings, proposed building a 98.1-megawatt solar farm on 1,000 acres leased from landowners outside of Bastrop. According to Auroras zoning exception application, the Chalkey project would use roughly one million solar modules and have a nameplate capacity between 300 and 400 MW. A lifelong sugar cane farmer in his first stint at politics, St. James Parish President Pete Dufresne has been an ardent backer of new industrial projects as needed job producers and tax revenue generators for his rural, blue-collar parish between Baton Rouge and New Orleans. Parish officials estimate that Pointe Coupee probably has room for one more solar farm at least for the next decade. This summer, Cleco sought help from an independent consultant to structure its new venture into building a solar farm portfolio, according to Louisiana Public Service Commission records. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. She also gardens, collects interesting minerals and can be found on TikTok. LIGHTSOURCE: The single largest solar project proposed is for 300 megawatts in Pointe Coupee Parish. With utilities such as Entergy, Cleco and LUS looking to buy renewable energy, another solar farm is being proposed in Louisiana. Opinions and comments published on this site may not be sanctioned by and do not necessarily represent the views of CleanTechnica, its owners, sponsors, affiliates, or subsidiaries. Ecoplexus has done seven tax equity funds for financing 170 megawatts of solar projects worth $300 million since 2017. KONTIKI HOLDINGS: A solar project in the town of Singer in Beauregard Parish owned by Kontiki Holdings LLC would span 1,970 acres and could produce 200 megawatts of electricity, at a construction cost of $145 million. But Dufresne has taken a more cautious approach with the solar farms now seeking to set up on agricultural land, worried about eating up swaths of irreplaceable riverside land for solar complexes that produce few permanent jobs. 3127 and west of La. Your personal data will only be disclosed or otherwise transmitted to third parties for the purposes of spam filtering or if this is necessary for technical maintenance of the website. Capital Region Solar is a planned 50-MW facility being built in West Baton In response to the latest round of projects seeking property tax and Quality Jobs program incentives, the Louisiana Economic Development department said in a statement that LED works to increase and retain jobs across all of Louisiana, including rural communities. Local governments have been left to balance those concerns against the rights of landowners seeking lucrative solar leasing arrangements and the demand from utilities and big users, including major industrial operations, for more renewable power. D.E. The firm is part of Recurrent Energy Development Holdings, a North American solar-power and energy-storage developer. You can also view the average costs for installing solar in Louisiana, based on real price data from installed systems and solar quotes. Bogalusa West PV I LLC seeks to spend $200 million on a 200-megawatt solar project in Bogalusa, near La. The project would support 160 construction jobs and create five jobs once built by 2024. ", Rural Louisiana residents will vote on more tax breaks for solar farms popping up across the state., Most of the projects are seeking Industrial Tax Exemption Program incentives, which could be up to 80% property tax abatement up to 10 years. Five of D.E. Science? A second solar project of previously unforeseen capacity could be coming to Louisiana, as local officials in Calcasieu Parish on Lake Charles, midway between New Orleans and Houston, Texas, have approved a zoning exception for developer Aurora Solar, a subsidiary of Avangrid Renewables. One of Louisianas largest solar power projects ever is now under construction. The hedge fund, also known as DESRI, is seeking to expand around the 210-acre farm by 3,900 more acres in the area with different investors. Kontiki was registered in Delaware as of August 2020 on behalf of Next Era, which is the publicly traded umbrella company for utilities such as Florida Power and Light, records show. Though Nationwide does not operate the solar array on a day-to-day basis, it does have a controlling interest as a financial backer, according to a federal master lease agreement on file. Separately, Pineville-based electric utility Cleco, which has a regulated unit serving 24 parishes primarily in central and south Louisiana and an unregulated unit serving nine Louisiana electric cooperatives, announced it's looking to add 400 megawatts of solar electricity. This could power almost 21,000 homes. So far, D.E. Copyright 2023 CleanTechnica. Amid public opposition, the parish Planning Commission denied them in May. The hedge fund, also known as DESRI, is seeking to expand around the 210-acre farm by 3,900 more acres in the area with different investors. A petition in opposition of the Chalkley Solar Project on change.org was able to garner 681 supporters before closing, calling the project a metal/mirror wasteland that can potentially destroy or at least harm vast amounts of wildlife.. The West Baton Rouge Solar Farm being tied to Entergy has over 100,000 individual solar panels and is off Rosedale Road. This 74.5 MW project produces enough electricity to power 7,991 homes. Rocking R is part of DESRIs growing portfolio of solar facilities in Louisiana, bringing the total contracted portfolio size to over 500 MW in the state. While natural gas remains the dominant power source in the state, with nuclear, coal and hydroelectric trailing far behind, solar is inching into play in a movement toward diversifying power sources and bolstering renewable energy to replace aging facilities and particularly coal to reduce emissions and fight climate change. The cost of decommissioning is born by the developer.". Otherwise, your data will be deleted if pv magazine has processed your request or the purpose of data storage is fulfilled. 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