West Virginia’s largest-ever solar project gets siting approval

92.5 MW of solar could be coming to 795 acres in Jefferson County, after state regulators granted a siting certificate to Wild Hill Solar LLC.

West Virginia regulators have granted a siting certificate to Wild Hill Solar LLC, which plans to build a 92.5 MW facility on 795 acres of agricultural land in Jefferson County.

According to the regulators, the power generated from the solar facility will be sold into a regional wholesale market and the project is estimated to cost $125 million.

Wild Hill Solar, a subsidiary of EDF Renewables, said that if the project clears all of the remaining permitting approvals, construction could begin this year, with a commercial operation date slated for 2022.

The construction of this project would be huge for West Virginia, as it would be far and away the largest solar installation in the state. In fact, according to the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA), West Virginia is currently home to just 10.5 MW of solar capacity, spread out across 359 installations, ranking it 49th among all states.

Not only would this project be unlike anything else the state has seen from a capacity standpoint, but it would also represent exponentially more financial investment in solar. SEIA estimated that the state’s total solar investment thus far sits at $33.31 million, roughly a quarter of Wild Hill’s estimated cost.

From: https://pv-magazine-usa.com/2021/02/16/west-virginias-largest-ever-solar-project-gets-siting-approval/