The Ohio Power Siting Board in just the last month has announced public hearings for six proposed solar projects, totaling more than 1.1 GW in potential capacity.
The projects, while not all guaranteed to advance, represent a new level of developer interest in the state. Some of the proposed capacities would rival the largest projects being constructed in the country’s sunniest areas.
Among the six proposed projects include the 300 MW Birch Solar project proposed by Lightsource bp, and the 300 MW Yellow Wood Solar project, which would be developed by Invenergy.
The Birch Solar project would be constructed in Allen and Auglaize counties, southwest of Toledo. Lightsource bp said that it intends to use 590W monocrystalline modules from Trina Solar, Power Electronics’ PE 3350 inverters, and Array Technologies DuraTrack HZv3 trackers. The hardware specifics could change as the project advances.
The Yellow Wood Solar Project would be constructed by Invenergy in Clinton County, midway between Cincinnati and Columbus. For this project, the developer said it would use modules from Longi, inverters from TMEIC inverter, trackers from NEXTracker, Soltec, or Array Technologies. Specific models were not disclosed, and the application outlined potential module and inverter substitutions.
The remaining four projects are still of considerable size:
The 100 MW Marion County Solar Project, set to be developed by Savion Energy, would include a 20 MW energy storage system. The project, planned for Marion County, just north of Columbus, would use Tier-1 solar modules, with applicants identifying Risen, Jinko, Trina, Longi as possible providers. Inverter mounting system specifics were not disclosed.
The 120 MW Tymochtee Solar project would be developed by Apex Clean Energy in Wyandot County, also north of Columbus. Hardware details were not available, other than it will use bifacial solar modules mounted on single-axis trackers.
The 117 MW Dodson Creek Solar project would be developed by National Grid Renewables in Highland County, east of Cincinnati. National Grid is considering Solar Ware, SMA, and SunGrow inverters; First Solar Series 6, Longi LR5, Vertex TSM-DEG 201C.20, Canadian Solar BiHiKu6 Mono, and JA Solar Deep Blue 3.0 modules, and Soltec, FTC Solar and NEXTracker trackers.
The 175 MW Kingswood Solar project would be developed by Vesper Energy in Xenia, Cedarville, and Miami townships, near Dayton. Hardware specifics have not been finalized, with the developer stating only that it would use Tier 1 solar modules. The inverter supplier and mounting system of choice have not yet been decided.
