COLUMBIA, N.Y. — The rural town of Columbia in Herkimer County could be home to one of the state’s largest solar installations in the next several years if the California company EDF Renewables obtains all the necessary permits. The Columbia Solar Energy Center, if approved, will be a $550 million, 350-megawatt facility with 20 megawatts […]
COLUMBIA, N.Y. — The rural town of Columbia in Herkimer County could be home to one of the state’s largest solar installations in the next several years if the California company EDF Renewables obtains all the necessary permits.
The Columbia Solar Energy Center, if approved, will be a $550 million, 350-megawatt facility with 20 megawatts of co-located storage located on about 2,000 acres — primarily in the town of Columbia, with some acreage in the neighboring town of Litchfield.
“We’re constantly looking for new areas to develop projects,” Jack Honor, EDF’s director of development for grid scale power in New York state. Columbia was an attractive location, he notes, because of the high-voltage power lines that run through the town.
“Access to robust transmission connection is paramount,” he explains. “We kind of looked at the greater Utica–Cooperstown area.” Columbia stood out because there was less transmission congestion and the state’s “Marcy South” power lines are easily accessible.
EDF Renewables started signing leases with landowners in 2019, and currently has about 90 percent of the required land under lease, Honor says. The company remains focused on leasing the last of the land it needs for the project as well as completing the environmental and engineering studies required for the permitting process, which takes about 18 months.
Pending that approval, Honor expects construction to start in 2025 into 2026. EDF Renewables is funding the entire project cost, and the company will receive a 30 percent federal tax credit.
Once underway, about there will be about 300 construction jobs followed by five full-time jobs once complete. During its first year of operation, the project will generate an estimated $1.2 million tax contribution split between Herkimer County, Columbia, Litchfield, and school districts within the project area. Residents in the two towns will also receive a credit on their electric bills for 10 years.
The project is so large that the state actually handles the process, Honor says, and he expects that to begin early next year. Currently, EDF is completing wetland studies, animal studies, and any others it needs for the permits.
The majority of the land is what Honor calls lower production agricultural land, mostly hayfields. The land is a mix of inactive and active farms.
“They see this as an opportunity to lease the land to us and keep the land in the family,” Honor says of many of the landowners that signed onto the project.
Keeping that rural farmland setting in mind, Honor says EDF works to make sure its solar projects do as little as possible to detract from the surroundings by using fencing that’s appropriate, such as agricultural-style fencing, vegetation, and other means to improve the look of the solar-installation area.
“There’s no way to prevent everyone in the community from seeing the project,” he notes, but EDF tries to make it as visually appealing as possible.
Another component includes looking at ways to actively incorporate agriculture into the project, Honor says. That could include efforts such as using sheep to graze around the solar panels, setting up beehives, or growing shade-loving vegetables below the panels.
The Columbia project will not be one large installation. Instead, the multiple sections of solar installation are spread around the 2,000 acres and connected via underground wires.
The project (www.edf-re.com/project/columbia-solar-energy-center/) is one of three EDF projects in the works across the state, and among 22 total solar projects in the state, to receive a long-term contract by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA). Those contracts allow the solar companies to sell renewable energy solar credits to the state for 20 years.
New York estimates the 22 solar projects will produce enough energy to power more than 620,000 homes for at least 20 years. They also progress the state toward its goal to obtain 70 percent of the state’s electricity from renewable sources by 2030 and a zero-emission grid by 2040.