South Dakota has issued its first permit for a large-scale solar facility — a $100 million project on the Pine Ridge Reservation.
The Public Utilities Commission approved a construction permit for the Lookout Solar Project during a meeting Monday in Pierre, according to a news release from the commission. The facility, owned by a German company, will be able to generate up to 110 megawatts of electricity.
The approval comes after PUC staff and the company addressed commissioners' concerns. The company has now agreed to follow 37 conditions during the construction and operation of the project related to restoration, threatened and endangered species, cultural resources reporting, decommissioning, avian and bat mortality, prairie grouse surveying and other topics.
“This project contains many unique components. As a result, our permit contains conditions that are equally unique,” PUC Chairman Gary Hanson said in the news release. “With every siting permit the PUC issues, we aim to include protections for South Dakota citizens and their property. In this case, the property on which this project will be built is individually-owned Indian trust land. The Bureau of Indian Affairs provides an additional layer of oversight for the project and an extra layer of protection for landowners.”
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Lookout Solar Park, which can be traced to a company called Wircon GmbH in Germany, will lease the land from the Rapp family, members of the Oglala Sioux Tribe. The BIA holds the land in trust.
Lynn Rapp, who spoke for the family at a previous PUC meeting, said the lease agreement is the first of its kind for the BIA.
The facility will be within the reservation on the western edge of Oglala Lakota County, about 20 miles east of Buffalo Gap. About 500,000 solar panels would be arranged across 250 acres. There will also be an energy storage facility, access roads, underground 34.5 kV electrical collector lines, an underground fiber-optic cable, a collection substation, an operations and maintenance facility and temporary construction areas.
The park would connect to high-voltage transmission lines owned by Western Area Power Administration near Cottonwood Cutoff. A buyer for the power has not been announced.
“The one thing that I want to highlight in this particular project is the fact that these folks are placing their transmission line underground. We’ve not seen that anywhere else," PUC Vice Chairman Chris Nelson said in the news release. Much to their credit, this applicant has chosen the underground option to ensure there’s minimal impact on the viewscape. I certainly appreciate them making that effort.”
The facility is expected to be complete by the second quarter of 2021.
South Dakota currently ranks 50th nationally in installed solar generating capacity, with 1.6 megawatts statewide, according to the Solar Energy Industries Association. The association says that’s enough to power 186 homes.
— Contact Arielle Zionts at arielle.zionts@rapidcityjournal.com.
