Light shed on solar array project
Malden Solar expects construction south of Valparaiso to start in spring 2024
NextEra Energy hopes to begin construction on its solar array project in Porter County, dubbed Malden Solar, in the spring of 2024, a company official told representatives of the business community.
“We cannot start construction until we’re fully permitted at the county level,” Matt Johnson, developer of Malden Solar for NextEra, said Thursday during a breakfast presentation sponsored by the Valpo Chamber, adding the company has the necessary state and federal permits it needs to move forward.
Robert Thompson, the county’s director of development and stormwater management, said in an email that NextEra has not filed an application to his department for review.
“I have no idea on a timeline or what they are proposing,” he said.
The project, which NextEra officials have said will be constructed along Smoke Road south of Valparaiso, will generate 200 megawatts on 2,000 acres of farmland with 950 acres “in the fence,” as Johnson put it, and containing the solar panels.
Malden Solar will generate at least $30 million in tax revenue over the life of the project, which Johnson said could be around 30 years, create around 300 construction jobs and entail a $300 million capital investment.
Eight landowners have signed on so far, he said, and another two are interested.
“We’re working through that final negotiation,” he said.
The solar panels are expected to go online about 18 months after construction begins. If the panels were to be decommissioned or not renewed after their 30-year expected life, a bond with the county would pay to remove the
panels and restore the site.
The project materials, Johnson said, “are 95% recyclable,” with the exception of silicon wafers that can be repurposed and reused.
The panels themselves are glass and steel and are built for the most part in Malaysia, Indonesia, China and Vietnam, though there is a push to begin manufacturing them in the U.S.
NextEra also has a project nearing completion in Jasper County that dips into Starke County, and is developing projects in White and Cass counties as well.
“If you can grow corn and beans, you can have solar,” Johnson said.
Customer demand is driving the expansion of solar energy along with other renewable energy sources, Johnson said.
“Energy diversity leads to energy security,” he said. “You don’t want to rely too much on one thing.”
Additionally, solar arrays in Florida recently survived sustained, 150 mph winds during a recent hurricane, he said, and snow and ice
slide off the panels. If hail damages a panel, it can be replaced; the panels are monitored remotely from company headquarters in Juno, Florida, and if they are damaged, they can be taken offline and replaced the next day.
“There’s no doubt they can provide power safely in the Midwest,” Johnson said.
Taking questions from the audience, Johnson said that a study on the impact of solar arrays on property values showed there was no evidence that they increased or decreased.
“As far as property values,
we feel that’s flat,” he said, adding the assessed valuation for farmland with the panels does increase, from $1,250 per acre to $13,000 per acre.
The Porter County Board of Commissioners will host an open house on Malden Solar’s proposal at 5:30 p.m. on Feb. 27 at the Porter County Expo Center, 215 E. Division Road, Valparaiso.
For more information on the project, go to www. nexteraenergyresources. com/malden-solar.html.