PALO — Amid cornfields north of Palo, some parcels are planted with another “crop” — posts that will support thousands of solar panels.
The Duane Arnold Solar Project is taking shape as about 250 workers a day install solar panels on about 240 acres of an 800-acre site.
“There are workers on site and some traffic in the area, but our crews have been very cautious about that to limit disruptions to the local community,” said Morgan Hawk, spokesman for Alliant Energy, which will own the 200-megawatt site when complete.
Phase 1 of the project, which uses about 100 acres east of Palo Marsh Road for photovoltaic arrays producing 50 megawatts of electricity, was done March 31.
Phase 2, which will produce 150 megawatts, is underway, with solar panel installation through August. Phase 2 will be operational by the end of the year.
The cost of both phases is more than $300 million, Hawk said.
Community impact
Alliant, which serves about 1 million electric and 425,000 natural gas customers in Iowa and Wisconsin, is trying to reach net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.
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Besides the Palo project, the company plans to open a 150-megawatt solar farm near Wever in southeast Iowa and a 50-megawatt solar site near Creston in south-central Iowa by the end of the year.
“Solar is a reliable source of energy. It contributes to our diverse energy mix,” Hawk said. “It really acts as an economic catalyst by creating local jobs and tax revenue for the local community as well.”
The Palo project will provide approximately $260 million in economic impact for Iowa, including $7.2 million in property taxes over the 30-year life of the project, according to NextEra Energy Resources, which developed the solar project and will operate it for Alliant.
Of the workers at the Palo site, 98 percent are from Iowa and include operating engineers, iron workers and laborers, Hawk said.
NextEra will have three permanent positions — two solar technicians and one technician leader — at the site.
What will be planted under solar panels?
Once the panels are installed, NextEra will start planting perennials below and around the arrays, said NextEra Spokeswoman Megan Murphy Salyer.
“The solar panel array zone consists of perennial vegetation with a shorter height to limit the need for mowing,” she said in an email. “The vegetation is also able to grow in the shade cast from the panels.”
In the buffer zone, about 19 acres around the arrays and within the fence line, NextEra will plant a more diverse native mix of plants, including grasses, milkweed, bergamot, coneflowers and other flowering species.
The vegetative cover, which will reduce erosion and provide habitat for insects and birds, is expected to take four years to mature.
What’s the back story?
The Linn County supervisors approved the Duane Arnold Solar Project, NextEra’s first solar project in Iowa, in 2022.
NextEra said in 2022 its investment in the solar project included $50 million paid to landowners for voluntary leases over the next 30 years.
Some of the neighbors sued Linn County in October 2022, alleging the project approval didn’t follow the county’s land-use regulations and Iowa Code. A 6th Judicial District judge denied those claims in August 2023.
NextEra and Alliant wanted the solar project to include a 75-megawatt, four-hour battery storage. The facility would have included 96 20-by-8-foot containers to house 7,000 lithium-ion battery modules. But the Iowa Utilities Board did not approve this part of the project, Hawk said.
What about Coggon solar site?
Linn County supervisors in January 2022 approved rezoning to allow a 640-acre solar farm west of Coggon. Clenera, an Idaho-based company, would develop the utility-scale project and then sell the electricity to the Central Iowa Power Cooperative, or CIPCO.
Neighbors Marty Robinson, Paula Robinson, Tom Robinson and Laura Robinson opposed the project and filed a lawsuit that still is being appealed after the 6th Judicial District dismissed the suit in February 2023.
Most of the land is leased, but Clenera purchased 76 acres. The Robinsons asked the Iowa Attorney General last fall to look at the land sale, which they say may violate Iowa’s prohibition on most foreign ownership of farmland because Clenera’s parent company is based in Israel.
The AG’s office told the Robinsons that staff would review the transaction. There is no resolution at this time, Marty Robinson said last month.
Clenera Spokesman Jake Melder said June 19 there were no updates on the Coggon solar project.
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