By COLE REIF
Great Bend Post
The Great Bend City Council spent just over 50 minutes Tuesday night hearing from Acciona Energy Director of Development Adam Stratton on a possible solar farm to be constructed to the northeast of Great Bend.
With a global footprint, Acciona’s headquarters in North America is Chicago and employs nearly 300 workers in the United States and Canada. Stratton said Kansas is among the top 10 sunniest states in the country, and many large companies are demanding solar energy.
"Industries go where they want to go, usually based on talent and demand," said Stratton. "We, and other companies like us, tend to follow them. They go somewhere and say we're opening a warehouse or factory and we need to buy renewable energy. That's one of the main reasons why we're in Kansas. Our global customers are telling us they'd like us to produce green energy in this state."
Acciona Energy approached the Barton County Commission in January 2023 about placing a solar farm to the northeast of Great Bend. A moratorium on commercial solar development in the county has been extended through March 31 to give the Planning Commission time to craft solar regulations.
Acciona is proposing two solar powered-electric generation facilities using panels to produce 150 megawatts from each project. Stratton said construction of the project could take between 16 and 24 months to complete, and would provide approximately 30 long-term jobs for Barton County that would work directly with Acciona to maintain the solar farm.
Stratton noted several property owners have agreed to lease their land to Acciona, just south of Cheyenne Bottoms. Hearing concerns of the close proximity to the wetlands, Acciona has adjusted their target area.
"We've heard concerns in the county from constituents," said Stratton. "We reacted to that in the midst of being under a moratorium. If there's no ordinance for us to permit to, the easiest and most logical thing we can do is to move away from the areas of concern. That's what we actively did."
Over a 40-year lifetime, the solar farm is expected pay an average of $1.6 million in property tax back to Barton County each year. Stratton said the rights to the energy produced from the solar farm have not been sold yet, meaning a local utility company could purchase some of the energy to keep it local.
Acciona is looking for Great Bend to adopt a solar ordinance to assist with the permit to construct the project, which is partially within the three-mile radius of city limits. The city anticipates on closely mirroring the county's solar regulations once developed.
Listen below to the entire discussion about Acciona Energy's proposed solar farm during the Great Bend City Council meeting on Tuesday, Feb. 20, 2024.