National Grid Renewables has announced the start of operation at its 128MW Wild Springs Solar Project (Wild Springs) in Pennington County, South Dakota.
The largest PV array in South Dakota to date, Wild Springs is located in the Southwest Power Pool with a 114MW Power PPA with Basin Electric Power Cooperative.
National Grid Renewables president Blake Nixon said: “The completion of Wild Springs marks a significant step in our commitment to bringing clean, sustainable energy solutions to the state of South Dakota.
“We are excited to see the impact of this project reach local and state residents through additional tax revenue, charitable contributions, and above all else – clean energy solutions.”
Basin Electric senior vice president of member and external relations Chris Baumgartner added: “Basin Electric has been evaluating solar generation for many years.
“We are excited to add solar to our all-of-the-above generation portfolio which includes dispatchable resources such as coal and natural gas and non-dispatchable resources such as wind and now solar.
“This diverse portfolio allows all these resources to work together to provide the maximum amount of reliability at the lowest-possible cost for our members.”
The project is anticipated to provide approximately US$29.5m in direct economic impact over the first 20 years of operations, including US$12m in new tax revenue over the same period.
Additionally, and unique to National Grid Renewables, Wild Springs plans to contribute US$500,000 in charitable giving to the local New Underwood school district over the first 20 years of operations.