Platte River Power Authority board approves solar farm

WELLINGTON – The Platte River Power Authority Board of Directors has approved a 30-megawatts solar farm that the utility will build at the Rawhide Energy Station north of Wellington.

The facility would occupy about 185 acres and include roughly 100,000 photovoltaic solar panels, Platte River said Thursday. Construction could start as early as spring 2015 and take about twelve months to complete.

Once in operation, the facility would produce electric energy equivalent to the average use of nearly 8,000 homes in Platte River’s owner communities – Estes Park, Fort Collins, Longmont and Loveland. The Larimer County Board of Commissioners approved Platte River’s land-use permit application for the facility Dec. 8.

“The addition of solar into our renewable mix is well aligned with our strategic initiative to diversify our generation resource portfolio,” said Jackie Sargent, Platte River General Manager and CEO, in a statement.

“The new facility will be a great complement to our existing non-carbon emitting wind and hydro resources,” she said. “As we plan for the future, expanding our pool of resources will help us to reduce carbon emissions and better manage risk.”

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