OPSB approves construction of solar energy project in Knox County; OKs New Market Solar request
The Ohio Power Siting Board (OPSB) Thursday approved an agreement allowing Frasier Solar, LLC to construct a 120-megawatt solar-powered electric generation facility in Clinton and Miller townships in Knox County.
The Frasier Solar facility will consist of arrays of photovoltaic modules, commonly known as solar panels, ground-mounted on a tracking rack system. The facility will occupy approximately 840 acres within a 1,395-acre project area and will include associated facilities such as access roads, electric collection lines, weather stations, inverters and transformers, a collector substation, and a 69-kilovolt electric generation interconnection line.
Frasier Solar must adhere to 62 conditions designed to minimize potential impacts during the construction and operation of the facility. Frasier Solar must install agricultural style perimeter fencing, implement setbacks of 50 feet to non-participating property boundaries and 300 feet to non-participating residences, and post a decommissioning bond to ensure the removal of the facility at the end of its useful life. The agreement approved by the OPSB was signed by parties, including the Ohio Chamber of Commerce, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local Unions 688 and 1105, and the Ohio Environmental Council.
In separate business, the OPSB approved a request allowing the New Market Solar Project in Highland County to add an operations and maintenance building to its facility. The OPSB also approved a request made by Firelands Wind, LLC to add lidar equipment to collect meteorological data, associated access roads, electric service and communication lines, and temporary monitoring masts to its Emerson Creek Wind Project in Erie and Huron counties.
Additional information regarding these entries and orders is available on the OPSB website at www.OPSB.ohio.gov.