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BROOKINGS — Renewable energy companies continue to be drawn to Brookings County, with NextEra Energy Resources the latest firm to publicize plans for two projects: a solar farm and a battery energy storage facility.
“We are a renewable company, and we’ve been working to develop a solar and battery storage project in Brookings County,” Project Manager Linda Christian told the Brookings County Commission on July 21. “I’ve met with planning and zoning a few times, I’ve met with economic development a few times. We built partnerships with South Dakota State University, where we taught class, educating students there on what we do in our company.”
The solar farm is formally known as Sunnyview Solar and is slated to be on 1,200 acres of land north of Sunnyview. The area runs roughly from Interstate 29 west to 469th Avenue, and from 209th Street north to 205th Street.
“We’ve moved forward to the point where we have enough land participation to where we can build a 200-megawatt solar farm and also a 250-megawatt battery storage (project),” Christian explained.
The battery project requires 25 acres of land and would be built southeast of White in the vicinity of 484th Avenue and 207th Street.
Christian said NextEra is the largest firm of its kind in the U.S., with a presence in 41 states. Their projects center on wind, solar, battery, natural gas and power plants. In addition to that, the company already has a presence in South Dakota, with four wind energy facilities in operation — and one in development — while it’s also developing two battery energy storage projects.
NextEra’s wind energy sites are in Day, Grant, Hyde, Jerauld, Turner and Yankton counties. Its battery projects are underway in Codington County.
In all, the company said it has approximately $840 million in capital investments in South Dakota, along with providing $2.1 million in annual land payments and, in 2024, paying $1.8 million in property taxes.
Fifteen landowners are taking part in the solar farm project, and neither it nor the battery storage project — which involves one landowner — used eminent domain, according to Christian. If all goes to plan, the expected operational date for the solar farm is 2031 and 2030 for the battery storage project, with an 18- to 24-month construction timeline for the former and a four- to eight-month construction timeline for the latter.
She assured commissioners that NextEra representatives will appear again before the commission to ensure that all rules and ordinances are being followed.
“What we’re requesting is making sure that you have battery ordinances in place and if not, what rules to follow to build a battery storage project and also a solar project,” Christian said.
The county does have solar farm rules in place. The ordinance states that such developments are classified as conditional uses and must comply with specific rules addressing setbacks, glare, weed control, height limits, road maintenance and comprehensive decommissioning plans with financial assurances.
The county treats battery energy storage systems on a case-by-case basis via the planning and zoning department and conditional use permits.
In addition to county rules, state requirements would also need to be met.
Following Christian’s presentation, Commissioner Kelly VanderWal had but one question: “Are you planning on having a public input-type meeting?”
“Yes. We’ve held coffee shops prior — so, I had a coffee chat back in October where we sent out notices and also got posted in the newspaper to let everyone know that we’re going to be here to answer any questions,” she explained.
The latest public meeting took place on July 21 at the visitor center at McCrory Gardens.
“We’re here to work with you and be good neighbors,” Christian said. “We’ll follow your rules and guidelines and what you request of us.”
— Contact Mondell Keck at mkeck@cmpapers.com.

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