Huge Solar Farm Approved in South Dakota

The State Public Utilities Commission (PUC) has issued a permit for construction of a large-scale solar facility in South Central South Dakota

According to the South Dakota Public Utilities Commission release, approval has been granted for a construction permit for the Lookout Solar Project, a solar generation facility in Oglala Lakota County on the Pine Ridge Reservation. When completed the facility will be capable of generating up to 110 megawatts of electricity.

Before approval was given several provisions needed approval. The revised agreement specified 37 conditions that must be adhered to during the construction and operation of the project.

Lookout Solar expects to complete construction of the $100 million facility, built on approximately 810 acres on the Pine Ridge Reservation, by the second quarter of 2021.

The proposed project is expected to include up to 500,000 solar panels, 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 one thing that I want to highlight in this particular project is the fact that these folks are placing their transmission line underground," said PUC Vice Chairman Chris Nelson.

Upon completion, Lookout Solar will interconnect to the high-voltage transmission lines owned by Western Area Power Administration near Cottonwood Cutoff. A buyer for the power produced by the project has not been announced.

Source: South Dakota Public Utilities Commission