Planning Commission paves way for solar farm expansion
The development of what’s billed as the nation’s largest solar farm in the Ducor area is coming along slowly, but continues to proceed.
The Tulare County Planning Commission at its meeting on Wednesday approved the final Supplemental Environmental Impact Report and special use permit for the expansion of the solar project.
Aventus, formerly known as 8minute Solar Energy, still hasn’t broken ground yet on the first part of the Solar Project, Rexford 1. That portion of the solar farm was scheduled to be well on its way to being operational by now but has been described as going through many, many delays and challenges due to the COVID-19 pandemic and supply chain issues. Ground is now scheduled to be broken on Rexford I in the spring of 2023.
Rexford 1 encompasses more than 3,600 acres and will generate 700 megawatts of electricity and another 700 megawatts of battery storage.
On Wednesday, the Planning Commission also took action to pave the way for Rexford 2, which will add anotehr 1,200 acres to the project. It was reported at Wednesday’s meeting Rexford 2 could have the ability to generate megawatts in the low 400s to the high 500s with it set to generate a capacity of 500 megawatts of power and have 500 megawatts of battery storage.
So in total the entire sprawling project is set to cover 13 miles in the Ducor-terra Bella area with the ability to generate 1,200 megawatts of power and have 1,200 megawatts of battery storage. Rexford 2 will be located near Ducor west of Highway 65 and will generally be located north of Avenue 56, east of Road 200, south of Avenue 75 and west of Road 224.
Two parcels in the Rexford 2 site will be adjacent to the Rexford 1 site. The Rexford 2 site will share some common facilities with the Rexford 1 site.
The site also includes fallowed agricultural fields no longer in use, so it’s serving a purpose another use for agricultural land that’s no longer being used. All of the property for the Rexford site is being leased from the families in the area so the land will stay with those families.
So it was reported on Wednesday the project will provide lease revenue to farmers as the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act forces them to cut their use of water and reduce
their farming operation.
It was also reported the Rexford 2 site alone will avoid up to 800,000 metric tons of CO2 annually. It’s hoped the entire site can be operational as soon as 2026.
It was reported on Wednesday the Rexford 2 site will be provide up to 800 construction jobs and $700 million will be invested into Tulare County as a result of the Rexford 2 site. The Porterville Unified School District has provided a letter of support for the project as PUSD Pathway graduates should actually be used on the construction of the project.
Ronny Jungk, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 100 business manager/financial secretary, stated in similar projects in Kings County about 42-43 percent employed on those projects were from Kings County.
He added he would expect that number to be the same if not hire as far as Tulare County and the Rexford project is concerned. He also said there will be those from Kern County working on the project and the Porterville area will be recruited heavily for the project.
The entire solar farm is expected to make Tulare County a net exporter of electricity. Electricity from the solar farm won’t be used for Tulare County as it will be primarily used by 370,000 Southern California residents. But the project will effectively enable Tulare County to produce more energy than it uses.
Jungk also spoke about another project that he said was finishing up and that’s Southern California Edison’s project to add about 200 megawatts of battery storage at its Springville substation. The cost of the project is about $500 million and the project is being done to help prevent against blackouts in the state.