By JAN McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
Construction is set to begin this week on a 418-acre solar field on the west edge of Wood County.
The Juliet Solar Project is being developed by Lightsource BP, described as an “end-to-end approach to utility-scale renewable energy and storage.”
The solar field – which is 2.5 times the size of Bowling Green’s solar site east of the city – received a green light from the Ohio Power Siting Board in November of 2021.
The project is proposed just west of the Village of Weston. Sand Ridge Road transects the project area dividing it into a northern and southern area. Weston Road runs north and south on the eastern side of the project area and is paralleled by Milton Road on the western side of the project area.
The area is primarily agricultural with some residences along Sand Ridge Road, Milton Road, and Weston Road.
Originally, 30 residential properties were to be affected by the proposed Juliet Solar Project, which included homes on Sand Ridge, Weston and Milton roads. Some residential properties along Sand Ridge Road were to be surrounded by solar panels on all four sides since the proposed solar farm stretched on both sides of the road.
But the size of the solar project has been reduced from 670 to 418 acres, down to 62 MW production. And acreage north of Sand Ridge Road, and east of Milton Road have been removed so those houses are no longer surrounded by the solar farm.
Earlier this month, the Ohio Power Siting Board authorized the Juliet Solar project to move the locations of the project collection substation, generation interconnection line, and the operation and maintenance building at its facility.
Letters were sent out to landowners in the area to let them know construction would begin soon.
Prior to approving the project in 2021, the Ohio Power Siting Board held a public hearing and listened as people testified about the economic and energy benefits of the solar field, the loss of prime farmland, and the harm it will cause the homes swallowed up by the site.
Speaking in favor of the solar project were representatives of Local 18 Operating Engineers, and the Toledo Chamber of Commerce, whose representative said the solar field will contribute to the energy resilience of the region.
Weston Mayor Jeremy Schroeder talked about the village benefitting from the solar field tax revenue. “There are only a handful of opportunities for growth” in a small village, without taxing residents, Schroeder said. “Development spurs growth, and I’m in favor of that,” he said.
But some neighbors voiced strong objections to the solar project.
A resident on Weston Road questioned the promises made by the solar firm.
“Solar projects present an intoxicating opportunity,” she said. But they “have a very long history of failure.”
A farmer said the loss of prime farmland is troubling.
“I’m not too excited about land being covered up with solar panels,” he said.
“This is going to be covering up some of the best ground in Weston Township,” he said.
Another resident, whose family has farmed in the area for generations, said he was initially opposed to the solar project. But after talking with family members, he decided to lease some acreage to the solar farm.
The Ohio Power Siting Board staff conducted an investigation of the Juliet Energy Solar project application and prepared a report making recommendations to the OPSB members. The staff recommended that construction of the solar farm be subject to 30 conditions, including requiring Juliet Energy Solar to:
- Prepare a landscape and lighting plan addressing aesthetic and lighting impacts where an adjacent non-participating parcel contains a residence with a direct line of sight to the facility.
- General construction activities shall be limited to the hours of 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., or dusk when sunset occurs after 7 p.m.
- Have an environmental specialist on site during construction activities that may affect sensitive areas such as wetland and streams, and potential threatened or endangered species.
- Implement a complaint resolution process to address potential complaints resulting from facility construction and operation, and provide a total decommissioning plan and cost estimate.
- Install a perimeter fence type that is both wildlife permeable and aesthetically fitting for a rural location and prevent the establishment of noxious weeds, and if found to be present, remove and treat them with herbicides as necessary.
- Avoid or minimize damage to functioning field tile drainage systems and agricultural soils and promptly repair damaged field tile systems to at least original conditions or modern equivalent.
- Submit an updated decommissioning plan and total decommissioning cost estimate without regard to salvage value.
The project will include associated facilities such as access roads, electric collection lines, inverters, weather stations, a substation and an operations and maintenance facility.
According to Lightsource BP, the project is expected to pay approximately $890,000 into the tax base annually, benefiting Otsego School District, Weston Township, Milton Township, and the Village of Weston. The project is expected to create 100-150 construction jobs, during peak construction.
The developer also stated there are no harmful pollutants or negative health impacts from the site. And trees and bushes will be planted as a vegetative buffer to reduce views of the solar farm.
As part of the Ohio Power Siting Board permitting process, a firm was hired to complete an updated noise assessment of sound emissions of the primary sound-producing project components, namely inverters and transformers.
Construction activities include road construction, substation construction, trenching, inverter and transformer installation, piling and racking. Construction that involves increasing sound above ambient levels will take place between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. or dusk, whichever is later. Pile driving will be limited to the hours of 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., or until dusk if sunset is after 6 p.m.
The OPSB approved moving the substation from the originally permitted location to a location that is further away from the Village of Weston and further away from nonparticipating residences, according to Julia Poska, manager of marketing and communications for Lightsource BP. The new location is also closer to the newly constructed First Energy substation to which the project will be connecting.
The solar farm has an expected lifetime of 40 years. The decommissioning plan ensures that the project will be removed at the end of its life, and that 100% of the solar panels utilized will be reused or recycled, upholding the company’s zero-landfill commitment, Poska said.
Poska also said there is no battery energy storage planned for the Juliet project.
Much of the information about the project is available on the website: https://lightsourcebp.com/us/project/juliet-solar/. The developer will be adding additional construction details as work gets underway.
The original plan for the solar field created a dilemma for Bowling Green that has since been resolved.
Bowling Green’s public utilities office was notified in late 2021 that the Juliet Solar Project would be using the city’s transmission lines to get its power onto the wholesale grid. But Bowling Green’s lines couldn’t handle the extra power that would be generated by the 101 MW solar field.
The city is required to give access to the grid to any independent power producers – in this case, BP Solar which will operate the site west of Bowling Green.
A feasibility study identified improvements that would be required on the city’s transmission lines between its West Poe Road substation and its West Gypsy Lane Road substation. Without improvements, the power generated by the solar field would overload the lines that go around the city.
To correct the overload issue, the lines between the substations will need a larger capacity conductor – paid for by the solar project.
Since then, the scope of the project was diminished, possibly because the developer was not interested in paying for the upgrades, according to Jim Odneal, assistant director of Bowling Green’s utility department.
So there will be “no impact on our system at all,” Odneal said last week.
