Advertise with CleanTechnica to get your company in front of millions of monthly readers. You have permission to edit this article. Since Entergy announced it would be buying solar power, the demand for solar farms has increased. Proposed $200 million projects in Thibodaux and Bogalusa would produce up to 200 megawatts of power each. Dufresne's and other local officials' concerns reflect the unease that has arisen among some in rural Louisiana over the proliferation of solar farms over thousands of acres agricultural land. How to build a hurricane proof solar unit. 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. 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. 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.. It is planning a Shaw's hedge fund is known among those in California's Silicon Valley and has prominent investors but is managed by an external board of executives. The solar arrays are massive, with hundreds of thousands of individual panels collecting sunlight to generate electricity sent to the power grid. Official SEIA State Affiliate - Gulf States Renewable Energy Industries Association (GSREIA), DSIRE Incentives Database - Louisiana - Search a public clearinghouse for specific solar energy incentives in Louisiana and across the United States, Louisiana Department of Natural Resources- Find a wide variety of information on state government energy programs, policy, projects, energy-saving strategies and energy-related statistics, Louisiana Public Service Commission - Learnabout the governing body that regulates the electricity rates and services of Louisiana public utilities, Louisiana State Legislature - Track pending legislation affecting solar energy, locate and contact individual legislators, and stay up to date on current legislative issues in Louisiana, Louisiana Solar Panels Overview- Learn about thehistory of solar policy in Louisiana, along with up-to-date pricing information onEnergySage, National Renewable Energy Laboratory - Louisiana, Solar Panel Cost in Louisiana- Learn about the history of solar policy in Louisiana, along withup-to-date pricing informationonEnergySage, Solar Rebates & Incentives in Louisiana- Check out EnergySage's list of keysolar incentives in Louisianato see what programs you can benefitfrom, U.S. Energy Information Administration Louisiana State Profile - Explore official energy statistics, including data on electricity supply and demand, from the U.S. government, 1All data from SEIA/GTM Research U.S. "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. The disruption of Russian gas to Europe has raised prices, encouraging developers and fueling the buildout along the Gulf. If so, couldnt this be raised to allow harvesting them? As of July, the only outside utility-scale solar project already selling power is in West Baton Rouge Parish and operated by a subsidiary of Helios Infrastructure, which acquired that project from its initial developers. Shaw once served on the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology for President Bill Clinton in the 1990s, according to the company's website. Currently, about 60% of Entergy Louisianas power comes from natural gas plants. Shaw Renewable Investments) is enthusiastic about the opportunity to invest in a welcoming state economic environment while working in close partnership with local communities," said Hy Martin, commercial development officer for the company. "Studying land use and the impact industry may have on the surrounding area is reasonable, but in states across the country and in regions around the world, solar enterprises have developed cooperative relationships with neighboring communities that have made both parties profitable," retired Army Lt. Gen. Russel Honor said in a statement. Note: This story has been updated to accurately reflect the spelling ofAndersen Windows and Doors., Solar power companies are proposing another seven large-scale solar-power projects valued at about $1 billion in rural areas of southeast Loui. "We need jobs. The Vacherie Solar Energy Center (Vacherie) will be a 150-MW AC facility in St. James Parish, Louisiana; The SJ Louisiana Solar Project (SJ Solar) will be a 150-MW AC Required fields are marked *. The officer of the Louisiana incorporated business is John Clifford, an executive at Galehead, records show. Some parishes have sought more control over solar project development, even going so far as to issue moratoriums on incentives and require special permitting.. "The calls for further evaluation by the Council is especially rich given how freely its members have allowed the petrochemical industry to expand in majority Black areas.". There are various owners from around the world involved in the projects, some of the next-generation of wildcatters leasing land on the speculation projects can be financed, developed and the electricity generated can be sold to the highest bidder. You don't have to hire new teachers or first responders; it's quiet, passive, creates revenue and actually preserves the land. 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. From raw materials straight through to end-user applications, we capture and analyze the critical details that help professionals stay current and navigate the solar market. Together, the projects represent the largest solar facility currently under construction in Louisiana and will produce a combined 70 MW of power. Ecoplexus has deals with customers such as Fortune 500 companies Medtronic and Ecolab, in addition to privately held businesses like Andersen Windows and Doors. 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. In February, SWEPCO announced plans to add 72.5 MW of solar energy through a power purchase agreement with the proposed Rocking R Solar project in northwest Louisiana. David Dismukes, executive director of the LSU Center for Energy Studies, said solar developers are so interested in the Gulf South because in other parts of the nation where the regulatory push for renewables has been stronger and earlier, large pieces of land are less available. This information came from an advance notification filed with Louisianas economic development office. The Chalkley Solar Project has raised the ire of Calcasieu Parish who are worried about the projects size, appearance, and environmental impact. Lighthouse already has more than 400 megawatts of solar connected to the grid with another 616 megawatts of power under construction. In Washington Parish, local officials said they adopted their own solar farm ordinance, triggering the end of a year-and-a-half-old moratorium. Even without government subsidy, utility-scale projects of 10 megawatts of solar power and above, is the cheapest form of electricity, according to global research firm Lazard. Rural residents have complained the solar farms are unsightly. Shaw Renewable Investments, supplies power to Entergy New Orleans. 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. At least in his parish, early fears that solar panels would supplant farms across the parish don't appear to be realistic, Thibaut said. Science? 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.. Solar Energy Industries Association. Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. 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. You may revoke this consent at any time with effect for the future, in which case your personal data will be deleted immediately. Depcom Power, also based in Arizona, did the engineering, procurement and construction in addition to operations and maintenance for the solar project. Solar development is largely in its infancy in Louisiana, with only a handful of projects having been constructed to date. Rocking R is expected to deliver significant community benefits, including the creation of construction jobs. "As we retire our low-sulfur coal-powered generation, Entergy will evaluate the appropriate mix of replacement resources as part of our continued effort to reliably provide power at the lowest reasonable costs, while mitigating customers exposure to cost and reliability risks," Entergy has said. A $98 million solar farm in Morehouse Parish is looking for tax breaks for manufacturing renewable power, The Advocate reports. For example, a 20-megawatt solar farm in New Orleans added about $1.50 to the monthly bill of ratepayers there. Bayou Galion is hoping for an up to 80% property tax abatement for 10 years through Louisianas Industrial Tax Exemption Program. All the projects have sought or are seeking public approval of 80% property tax breaks for up to 10 years through the state's Industrial Property Tax Exemption Program for projects on primarily agricultural land being transformed into industrial sites that typically last at least two decades. Patrick Courreges, DNR spokesman, said the rulemaking process is expected to start in August. Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. 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. We also offer comprehensive global coverage of the most important solar markets worldwide. Washington D.C.-area technology startup Helios Infrastructure is a joint venture between Sol Systems and Ohio giant Nationwide Insurance. New state legislation requires regulation for large-scale solar projects through the Department of Natural Resources, an agency that oversees natural gas and oil drilling. D.E. 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. Businesses which rely on oil and gas activity off Louisiana's coast fear that fossil fuels could track a similar demise as the coal industry a, The climate task force created by Gov. Other questions:subscriberservices@theadvocate.com. ", 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. Louisiana Department of Natural Resources, U.S. Energy Information Administration Louisiana State Profile, http://www.seia.org/research-resources/us-solar-market-insight, http://www.eia.gov/electricity/monthly/#generation, http://www.thesolarfoundation.org/solar-jobs-census/states/, http://www.seia.org/research-resources/national-solar-database, http://www.seia.org/research-resources/major-solar-projects-list, https://www.seia.org/solar-means-business-report. These tax benefits would normally be touted by local officials. St. Jacques Solar LLC is proposing a 120-megawatt solar project in Vacherie, looking to spend $134 million supporting 300 construction jobs and one position once done in 2024. Copyright 2023 WTWH Media, LLC. 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. D.E. Solar panel technology is not new but the cost to build solar farms has dropped significantly in recent years. St. James Solar III LLC is looking at the same intersection in Vacherie for a $100 million project to produce 90 megawatts of electricity. The projects would support hundreds of construction jobs but create only a handful of permanent jobs once completed. The state has approved all of the solar farms proposed for economic incentives so far. Likewise, major corporations that are big users of electricity are looking to be more environmentally friendly by sourcing more of the power they use from the sun, wind or water. Overall, D.E. Lafayette Utilities System is seeking to diversify its power sources into renewable energy by purchasing up to 300 megawatts of solar power. That requires big tracts of land, often former family farms, which has created pushback from farmers in Louisiana, who say they can't compete with the solar industry's lease payments for land. At least one company, San Francisco-based Ecoplexus, has emerged as a potential bidder for two of the three solar farms: a $308 million project in Pride in East Otherwise, your data will be deleted if pv magazine has processed your request or the purpose of data storage is fulfilled. Thibodaux Solar is not yet registered in Louisiana but is in Delaware, incorporated in mid-June this year as a shell business. Privately held Savion LLC is under Green Investment Group and an indirect subsidiary of publicly traded Macquarie Group in Australia. Solar Industry offers industry participants probing, comprehensive assessments of the technology, tools and trends that are driving this dynamic energy sector. The Sierra Club environmental group recently conducted a report that asserts it would be cheaper in the long-run to replace coal-fired power plants with utility-scale solar and wind projects in Louisiana. Other developers would have two projects each in West Baton Rouge and Morehouse parishes and one each in Washington, Pointe Coupee, Lafourche, East Feliciana and Beauregard parishes. Two are already constructed in West Baton Rouge Parish and New Orleans East; two are under construction in Washington and St. James parishes; and three more were put out vying for a contract with Entergy for proposals in West Baton Rouge, East Feliciana and Morehouse parishes. Bogalusa West PV I LLC seeks to spend $200 million on a 200-megawatt solar project in Bogalusa, near La. Solar projects are similar to any other real estate development with landowners, leases and even property flippers active in the market. This is a part of the West Baton Rouge Solar Farm. Capital Region Solar is a planned 50-MW facility being built in West Baton I mean these thousands of acres of solar farms is not bringing any jobs, and who's getting the benefit? The solar farm has over 100,000 individual solar panels and is off of Rosedale Road. Entergy, which has been mostly interested in solar farms in southeast Louisiana, is one of Louisianas utilities that have been looking to buy renewable energy. 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. Join our newsletter. SWEPCO is seeking approval from regulators in Arkansas, Louisiana and Texas to acquire the 200 MW Mooringsport solar project in Caddo Parish, La. Entergy Louisiana has already made its final decisions with undisclosed companies for the 300-megawatt proposal. "The cost to install has come down; the components and the financing costs have come down as it becomes more mature," he said, "and there's more interest from institutional investors." Complete our National Solar Database Survey! Some also called into question the local officials authority to grant the specific type of zoning exemption that was granted. Add to that, more than 100 megawatts of electricity already being generated from privately-owned solar panels sitting on the rooftops of individual residences or on commercial buildings. Further information on data privacy can be found in our Data Protection Policy. The governor's office announced that it has asked the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, which oversees offshore oil leasing in the Gulf of Mexico, to create a federal, state and local task force to develop wind farms off the state's coastline. The legislation passed. ", The statement said the states Board of Commerce and Industry, which oversees incentives, "will respectfully and fairly consider the expansion of solar power as part of its objective to help grow and retain jobs in Louisiana. Companies, big plants and utilities want to cut carbon emissions to meet corporate sustainability goals often driven by investor demands for greener operations and to prepare for the potential of regulatory costs associated with carbon emissions. "LED recognizes that many of our rural communities are valuable agricultural centers. SWEPCO is seeking approval from regulators in Arkansas, Louisiana and Texas to acquire the 200 MW Mooringsport solar project in Caddo Parish, La. Please be mindful of our community standards. Several Louisiana utilities have shown interest in solar. Shaw Renewable Investments, supplies power to Entergy New Orleans. RECURRENT ENERGY:Outside of Bastrop in Morehouse Parish, a subsidiary of publicly traded Canadian Solar, which manufactures solar panels and constructs projects, is buildingBayou Galion Solar Project. Reached for comment, Clifford said he's no longer involved in the project. Shaw's projects are in St. James Parish; its other two are in Washington Parish. Copyright 2023 CleanTechnica. 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.. MASSIVE Electric Bike Buyers Guide All the Biggest Brands & Models, NIO ES8 The Chinese Electric SUV Outselling The Tesla Model X, Nukes, Renewables, and the Union of Concerned Scientists, Reality Check Correcting the Cleantech Record, Solar Panel Installers Top Solar Panel Installers & How To Evaluate Them, Switching to an Electric Fleet Learn About Charging, Payments, & More, Testimonials: Why Readers Love CleanTechnica. "You know, solar panels don't go fight with each other, or get in trouble. https://pv-magazine-usa.com/2021/10/06/hurricane-resistant-solar-and-energy-storage-microgrid-to-be-built-in-puerto-rico/#respond Is this craw-fish country? If you continue to use this website without changing your cookie settings or you click "Accept" below then you are consenting to this. New Orleans plummets, Baton Rouge hits bottom of national clean energy rankings. Currently, about 60% of Entergy Louisiana's power comes from natural gas plants. I would hate for that to be what Washington Parish is known for.". The project would support 160 construction jobs and create five jobs once built by 2024. "So you know before we just hurry up and jump up and approve all these things, we want to know what the long-term effect is going to be for St. James Parish," Dufresne said. In Louisiana, with its long hot summers and wet chilly winters, one megawatt powers the equivalent of 100 homes. The project is expected to generate between $30 million and $40 million in property taxes over its 30-year lifespan, and would create 300 to 500 temporary construction jobs and three to four full-time jobs. One of Louisianas largest solar power projects ever is now under construction. Some votes head to rural residents. I am confident that it will provide reliable and inexpensive power to these Louisiana co-ops for years to come.. To put that 600 megawatts into perspective, solar power would amount to just 3% of the utility and public power generation capacity in Louisiana if it were part of the current mix compared to natural gas, 70.9%; nuclear power, 11.3%; coal, 9.6%; petroleum coke and liquids, 4.9%; and hydroelectric and biomass, 0.3%. Other questions:subscriberservices@theadvocate.com. Dufresne, who has with some parish council members so far unsuccessfully called for a moratorium on new solar farms, gained authority last week to negotiate with the parish's third-party planning agency to study the economic and environmental impacts of solar in St. James. "That's the most valuable real estate we have. Wind projects create an average of 0.9 jobs/MW (50 projects/7,125 megawatts), and Louisiana (49 projects/6,714 megawatts). 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. Though St. James Solar sailed through the approval process in 2019, the new, larger additions have run into headwinds. Parish officials are worried the expanded solar farms could displace future homes, commercial businesses or industrial plants on the prime land near the Mississippi River. 20. 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. Nearly 1 In 3 Homes In Australia Covered In Solar Panels, In Ultrathin Layers, NREL Researchers Find A Path To Better Materials, Solar Installation Growth Expected to Reach 700 GW by 2025, Green Hydrogen Project Is New Worlds Biggest, Utility-Scale Wind, Solar PV, & Concentrating Solar Power (CSP) Increased From 467 MW In 2013 To 6,230 MW In 2022 In South Africa, Energy Security Amid Heightened Global Tensions. "We want to work with the parish to address their concerns and find a middle ground," he said. Tim Sylvia was an editor at pv magazine USA. The projects could support 1,000 construction jobs if built, but yield only two full-time positions once completed. The owner of the farm, D.E. Mooringsport and Wagon Wheel are expected to come online in December 2025. John Bel Edwards' climate initiative calls for a vast "decarbonization" of Louisiana's industrial sector which contributes about 62% of Louisiana's greenhouse gases powering boilers and other equipment and sees the push toward renewable power as one of the ways to drive the state to "net-zero" carbon emissions by 2050. ), BidenHarris Administration Announces $74 Million to Advance Enhanced Geothermal Systems, In 2021, 20% Of Electricity In The US Was Generated From Renewable Sources, Stellantis Takes On Two Partners To Reduce EV Production Emissions, Guiding Principles For EV Battery Recycling Policy, NIO Builds Battery Factory, CATL Reacts, Lithium Prices Implode, Central Heat Pump Water Heaters Can Act As Massive Water Batteries, Seattle Pilot Project Shows, Li-Cycle Scores $375 Million DOE Battery Recycling Development Loan, A Conversation on the Latest and Greatest on Vanadium Batteries (Video), PG&E Will Test Tesla & Sonnen Virtual Power Plant Technology, Sonnen & TenneT Power German Grid With Electric Cars, 1st Virtual Power Plant from SolarEdge Supporting UK Grid, Google, Ford, GM, & Solar Companies Partner To Promote Scaling Of Virtual Power Plants, Vehicle-To-Grid Solutions Could Open Fast Lane To Net-Zero Future, Breaking Barriers to Home Electrification Through the EAS-E Prize, We Spend $850 a Year on Clean Energy for Our Home & Car (One Fifth the National Average). The new and previously disclosed projects would cover tens of thousands of acres of largely farm and timber land, leased from landowners. The farm is located just north of La. Web4 Utility-scale solar projects create an average of 3.3 jobs/MW according to SEIA. Here's a glance at the other proposed projects in the state and their developers: HELIOS INFRASTRUCTURE:Its 50 megawatt project cost $67 million to construct in West Baton Rouge Parish and is operational. Observers and analysts say the solar farms are being driven into rural Louisiana because of the simple economics of cheaper power and the broader drive to stem climate change, which a United Nations panel said in February would amount to an existential threat to south Louisiana over the next half century. Wind got a plug recently during the opening session of a Climate Initiatives Task Force appointed by Gov. The farm, owned by the hedge fund D.E. Shaw has signed deals with utilities such as Entergy New Orleans,but also with business customers such as Facebook for solar projects out West. 3127 in Vacherie. Tim covered project development, legal issues and renewable energy legislation, as well as contributed to the daily Morning Brief. By 2022 Entergy expects to have 381 megawatts of solar in its Arkansas portfolio.. Diversion is expected to reach commercial operation in December 2024. Hesaid the number of commercial-scalesolar farms is greatly limited by the capacity of the electrical grid to handle them. Use SolarReviews to get company reviews and estimates for solar in your area. WebWashington, D.C. Today, Helios Infrastructure (Helios), a joint venture between Nationwide and Sol Systems, announced its acquisition of the largest solar power project in Louisiana. Instead, it's likely the new electricity generation cost, as with the addition of any other new capacity, would be added to monthly bills spread across all ratepayers. The project has drawn significant opposition from locals, however with more than 1,000 names being presented in opposition at the zoning meeting. We've already went through the dairy farms having to sell out and shut down. Dismuskes, the LSU energy analyst, said that while it is true industrial operations are looking for renewable power, it may not be that all of them want that power from Entergy. Ecoplexus executives did not respond to repeated requests for comment. Neither of those companies were the original developer of the project. Created by, the average costs for installing solar in Louisiana.

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