North Pine County News | Sierra Kingen, July 24
It is no secret that energy prices have been rising in Minnesota. One company, however, is working on bringing some relief to the communities of Pine County. Swift Current Energy has been developing the Iron Pine Solar Project–a solar farm.
Senior Director of Development for Swift Currently Energy, Joey Shannon, states Pine County has been identified as suitable for solar development because of the robust solar resource, its proximity to the existing electric transmission system with available capacity, compatibility with existing land use, and minimal anticipated environmental impacts.
According to Shannon, Iron Pine Solar Project is important due to it helping meet the growing demand for electricity in Minnesota by delivering clean, home-grown, on-peak power at a cost effective, reliable price.
Benefits
Shannon states that this project provide numerous local benefits. “The Minnesota solar energy production tax rate for projects like this is $1.20 per megawatt-hour of energy produced,” Shannon explains.
The Iron Pine Solar Project, which is anticipated to be approximately 325 megawatts (MW), will provide production tax payments to Pine County and Kettle River Township–where the solar farm will be
locate–of approximately $800,000 per year over the life of the Project, which is estimated to be 30 to 35 years.
“This will result in significant annual revenue to Pine County and Kettle River Township without burdening existing resources,” Shannon states.
This guaranteed, according to Shannon, annual tax revenue will allow county and township officials to make long-term financial plans and increase spending on public services and other critically important infrastructure.
Shannon also says Iron Pine Solar also expects to pay millions of dollars every year directly to landowners through lease and easement resulting in a diversified revenue stream that protects against fluctuating commodity prices and preserves family properties for future generations. “In addition, the Iron Pine Solar Project will directly create hundreds of full-time equivalent jobs during the construction and installation phases, as well as support indirect and inducted jobs during development and construction,” Shannon explains.
Additional long-term jobs will be created to accommodate services, such as operation and maintenance of the facility, snow plowing, landscape maintenance, and Project access road maintenance.
Project still in early stages
The Iron Pine Solar Project is still currently in the early stages. Shannon says getting a large scale project ready for construction takes several years, and there are several parallel processes that occur during the development process, including:
• Evaluating the area’s solar resource
• Leasing land to host project infrastructure
• Ensure landowners, local stakeholders, and local officials have a chance to provide input
• Performing a variety of environmental surveys and studies to inform the project design and mitigation measure, if needed
• Acquiring the necessary permits to build the project
• Undergoing the rigorous, multi-year interconnection process, which includes submitting the project for study with the transmission grid operator to determine any upgrades needed to reliably deliver electricity.
Big project, big challenges
Currently, Swift Current is facing some challenges that, according to Shannon, the agile team that is Swift Current is working through with deep experience in the industry. “We build this type of uncertainty into our overall project timelines, allowing us to stay flexible while executing best-in-class projects,” Shannon says.
These challenges are:
• The projects overall schedule remains in flux due to a backlogged concentration of renewable energy projects filing for interconnection via the local independent system operate (MISO).
• Supply chain disruptions have continued post-pandemic. The solar module market is rapidly evolving to satisfy some of the Domestic Content provisions outlined in the Inflation Reduction Act. It can be difficult to monitor, but Swift Current is continuously running design scenarios based on potential products available to meet their goals.
Powerful size
Iron Pine Solar Project is approximately 325 megawatts, which has the potential to power 45,000 Minnesota households annually. Current site control consists of 2,700 acres under either lease or easement agreements. Current design estimates indicate that roughly 1,600 acres will be developed to host project infrastructure.
High hopes
Director Shannon expresses that treating people fairly and respectfully, and developing projects responsibly are the keys to the project successes, “We are looking forward to continuing to cultivate and maintain relationships with our project stakeholders and partners, with the end goal of building on our proven track record of developing, construction, and operating successful projects.”
Looking forward
Swift Current is continuously evaluating new project opportunities, “Our focus continues to be on competitive power markets, such as Minnesota, where the demand for renewable energy continues to grow.” Shannon says.
The Iron Pine Solar Project currently has a target online date of 2026.
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