When a solar expansion project is completed later this year, Grand Island will have the second-largest solar farm in Nebraska.
Crews are currently installing 21,600 panels on a solar farm expansion project in northeast Grand Island
Crews are busy installing solar panels in northeast Grand Island. The main contractor on the job is Nelnet Renewable Energy of Lincoln.
The Grand Island Utilities Department is overseeing the project on city-owned land.
The 9.9 megawatt solar expansion will join a nearby one-megawatt farm, from which Grand Island currently draws power.
Between the two of them, Grand Island will have access to 10.9 megawatts of solar power.
The largest solar farm in Nebraska is an 81-megawatt solar array spread across 500 leased acres south of Yutan. OPPD has a power purchase agreement with the farm, known as Platteview Solar.
Crews are busy installing solar panels in northeast Grand Island. The main contractor on the job is Nelnet Renewable Energy of Lincoln.
Barring any setbacks, Grand Island Utilities will commission its solar farm addition for full use by December.
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The City of Grand Island will own the solar farm expansion. The one-megawatt farm, meanwhile, is owned by American Electric Power, with which the city has a contract to purchase power.
“Once complete, the solar expansion will be able to power approximately 10,000 homes while operating at the same cost as coal energy,” says a news release from the city of Grand Island.
The combined wattage and power supply for the city means that 20% of the generation output for all of Grand Island will come from renewable energy.
The solar farm expansion comes with a $14 million price tag, but the Inflation Reduction Act will reimburse Grand Island approximately $4 million.
Crews are busy installing solar panels in northeast Grand Island. The main contractor on the job is Nelnet Renewable Energy of Lincoln.
The city pays the full contract cost. The federal government will provide the city with investment tax credits under a direct pay program for public entities.
“The direct pay program will net back about 30% of the project total of $14.2 million,” Assistant Utilities Director Lynn Mayhew said. “The 9.9 megawatts of solar energy will do two things for us — it’s going to give us more capacity, and it’s going to provide peaking power during the summer season.”
That 30% figure includes wind as well as solar power. Grand Island has a contract to buy wind power.
The average home uses about 1,000 to 1,200 kilowatt hours per month, Mayhew said.
Crews are currently installing 21,600 solar panels and 900 inverters in northeast Grand Island.
Will Grand Island Utilities continue to expand its use of renewable energy?
“We will continue to evaluate each situation because what we’re trying to do is get the lowest-cost energy for the customers for Grand Island Utilities,” Mayhew said.
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