The solar project on Commerce Street in Stuart has been canceled, and is no longer viable due to interconnection issues, according to Energix Vice-President of Development Seth Christman.
The project, proposed by Fairy Stone LLC, a subsidiary of Energix Renewables, was deemed to have a fatal flaw in its connection to the grid, he said.
“This was only learned after the condition of use permit was granted for the project earlier this year. Unfortunately, the project would have triggered an unacceptable voltage change where it interconnected to the Stuart substation,” he said.
The Patrick County Board of Supervisors approved the siting agreement in a hotly debated 3-2 vote at its March 11 meeting. The project was to encompass approximately 170-acres.
Christman said continuing the project would defeat the purpose of putting energy on the grid to create reliability.
The issues “was learned between us and AEP (Appalachian Power) who, of course, operates the distribution grid in that area, and that would have not allowed the project to move forward because it would significantly reduce the project’s size to a point that it would not be feasible to be built,” Christman said.
The solar project proposed by Moscato, LLC, also a subsidiary of Energix, in the Woolwine area, was on the docket to move forward, however, Christman said there appeared to be organized community opposition to that project.
“We pulled it from consideration. We have not terminated that LLC, that project, or the land positions, we just did not move it forward at that time because of the organized opposition to the project and kind of relooking at the project and the viability in that location,” he said.
While the company could potentially opt to restart the project, Christman said Energix currently does not have anything in the works to push that project forward on the agenda.
“It is not a such as the Fairy Stone project, which is no longer viable from an interconnection standpoint, which is again a fatal flaw to that project from moving forward. That is not the case with the Moscato project, that is more of a consideration for understanding what the community wants and also for understanding the chances of that project moving forward,” he said.
According to the project’s review application, Moscato proposed the development and construction of a 13.2MWac solar facility to be located on three parcels on land that totals approximately 213 acres of privately-owned land. The review application also states that less than 100 acres were planned for panel coverage.
The vast resistance from county residents to solar projects is not a unique response, Christman said.
“If you’re following the industry, you’ve probably seen a lot of counties across Virginia, and the country for that matter. Obviously, solar has been coming in a lot of counties where it was not previously in three, four years ago, or even a couple of years ago, and it is very attractive,” he said. “Virginia particularly, because of where it’s located and the growth demand that Virginia has for electricity as well as the Virginia Clean Economy Act.”
While no other projects are being considered in Patrick County at this time, Christman said this attractive market for energy developers, Energix included. That is why there are a lot more projects being proposed in counties like Patrick County and all over Virginia.
“Pretty much every county in Virginia, there is probably a solar project that’s being proposed, but you are seeing a lot more opposition to those projects just because they are particularly new, right? They weren’t there 10 years ago, and they might not have even been there five years ago, so it’s a new technology and they are perceived by some to have impacts that they don’t want in their counties,” he said.
Christman said Energix’s commitment is to be a community partner and provide reliable sustainable energy to the grid.
“With our projects come benefits that can certainly help local communities, in tax bases, or other partnerships that we strive to have with communities. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to do that with the Fairystone project in Patrick County,” he said.
According to Patrick County’s Comprehensive Plan, solar projects are limited to 1,000 acres of the county’s 486 square miles, or 309,120 acres.
Christman said Energix is a Virginia-based company interested in developing and operating projects in the long term across the state.
“We have 15 operation projects. We certainly are committed to being a partner with the community for the long term of our projects,” he said.
