National electricity grid for renewable energy sources commenced operations at the Wild Springs Solar Project in Pennington County, South Dakota. Wild Springs, the largest solar project in South Dakota to date, is a 128 MW solar project located in the Southwest Power Pool (SPP) with a 114 MW power purchase agreement (PPA) with Basin Electric Power Cooperative.
Credit: National Grid Renewables
“The completion of Wild Springs marks an important step in our commitment to bringing clean, sustainable energy solutions to the state of South Dakota,” said Blake Nixon, president of National Grid Renewables. “We are excited to see the impact of this project reach local and state residents through additional tax revenue, charitable contributions and, most importantly, clean energy solutions.”
Wild Springs is expected to have approximately $29.5 million in direct economic impact over the first twenty years of operations, including $12 million in new tax revenue over the same period. Additionally, and unique to National Grid Renewables, Wild Springs plans to contribute $500,000 in charitable donations to the local New Underwood school district during its first twenty years of operations.
“Basin Electric has been evaluating solar power generation for years,” said Chris Baumgartner, Basin Electric’s senior VP of members and external relations. “We are excited to add solar to our all-generation portfolio above, 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 assets to work together to provide our members with the maximum level of reliability at the lowest possible cost.”
The project will also generate enough homegrown clean energy to supply the equivalent electricity consumption of an estimated 37,000 households per year, or 740,000 households during its first twenty years of operation.
News item from National Grid Renewables