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sromig@steamboatpilot.com
An industrial-scale solar array and battery energy storage project in Routt County, planned by a Texas-based energy developer, is moving through the county planning process with a public hearing tentatively planned for this summer.
The project proposed by RWE Americas, based in Austin, Texas, would be located approximately 1 mile south of Hayden town limits. Evan Weaver, RWE senior manager for utility scale development, said groundbreaking is planned for spring 2028, and power production at the project, dubbed Sleeping Giant Solar, would begin in late 2029.
When completed, the 215-megawatt solar array could power approximately 40,000 homes, and the 125 MW battery energy storage system could provide 4 hours of power for use at night or during low solar production periods to power approximately 22,000 homes, Weaver explained.
“The storage also works to manage intermittency while promoting grid stability by reducing energy needs from other sources at peak demand,” Weaver noted.
The proposed site is located on a mix of private land and land managed by the Colorado State Land Board that includes the interconnection facilities along the 230kV Hayden-Craig transmission line, Weaver said.
“Of the many reasons that the project is sited in Routt County, one is to be competitive for the (Xcel Energy) Just Transition Solicitation and in line with Colorado Office of Just Transition goals,” Weaver said. “Both the OJT and JTS and the master plans of the county and the town of Hayden favor large-scale renewables in this area.”
Weaver explained the design of Sleeping Giant Solar places the panels low enough to the ground that when combined with the rolling topography of the surrounding landscape, “it is not expected to pose a glint or glare hazard to aviation.”
The solar array would be broken into multiple fenced sections to allow for wildlife corridors through the site, something Weaver said was unique in the industry. The developers also intend to purchase a conservation easement on private land in Routt County that is close to the size of the array and the land impacted, Weaver said.
“As part of our wildlife mitigation plan, we have entered into a letter of intent with Colorado Open Lands to secure a conversation easement in Routt County that achieves significant mitigation of the project’s impacts,” Weaver said.
Early infrastructure work at the site would include the installation of an underground water tank to assist the West Routt Fire Protection District if necessary, Weaver said.
Although the Routt County location would be the company’s first project in Colorado, RWE has an asset base of more than 10 gigawatts of operating wind, solar and battery projects located across the U.S., according to the RWE website.
The total area of the proposed Sleeping Giant project is 3,030 acres, all currently under lease agreement or purchase option, Weaver said, and the total proposed fenced parcels of the project is approximately 1,534 acres, situated in disconnected blocks to allow for wildlife movement.
The size of the proposed solar array south of Hayden would make the development the largest solar array in Northwest Colorado, larger than the existing Axial Basin Solar array that began operating on Oct. 25 and is owned by Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association in southeast Moffat County.
The Axial Basin array is a 145-megawatt solar photovoltaic plant located near the former Colowyo Mine on Colorado Highway 13 and designed to meet the needs of an estimated 40,000 homes, said Mark Stutz, Tri-State public relations specialist. Axial Basin includes 769 acres of solar panels and equipment within a 1,212-acre fenced in area.
Routt County Assistant Planning Director Alan Goldich said the proposed Sleeping Giant solar and battery storage project currently is under review by the county and outside consultants. Goldich said the developer continues to work with the planning department to address comments and requests.
“The public comment period is currently open, and we will be accepting comments up to, and through, the public hearing process,” Goldich said.
Goldich said the proposal will be regulated under the county’s updated Unified Development Code standards for utility scale solar projects. Those standards “are pretty robust and cover county roads, visual impacts, stormwater, erosion, vegetation, wildlife, emergency response, ag lands, decommissioning and reclamation, community benefits, and everything in between,” Goldich said.
Weaver said the developers would endeavor to employ some local contractors during construction, and the final completed project would employ up to six workers.
“Because of the number of specializations, many of the approximately 275 construction jobs created by the project would be workers that would temporarily stay in the county during construction,” Weaver explained.
Weaver said the project would “generate taxes that help offset the tax revenue losses from the Hayden Station closure.” The RWE senior manager said the company has “worked closely” to incorporate feedback on a number of mitigation items recommended by Colorado Parks and Wildlife, which provided a detailed input letter to the Routt County Planning Department on Dec. 22.
To reach Suzie Romig, call 970-871-4205 or email sromig@SteamboatPilot.com.
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