County OKS permit for new 2 megawatt solar farm

Clarifies wording on a previously issued SUP for another installation

Logan County Commissioners Tuesday approved a special use permit for a new solar farm and clarified wording on a previously issued SUP for another installation.

The proposed new project will be along State Highway 61 southeast of Sterling Correctional Facility. There already is a sizeable solar farm just across the road and a smaller one northwest of that.

The project will be built by Cloudbreak Energy Partners of Boulder, doing business as CBEP Solar 24, LLC. The project will cover about 17 acres consisting of solar modules mounted to single-axis tracking racks, along with associated electrical equipment. The project will produce about 2 megawatts of power and the special use permit is for 40 years. Cloudbreak estimates the project should be finished by mid-2025.

In a related item the commissioners also amended the permit for another Cloudbreak project, CBEP 33, which was approved by the board in January. The amendment clarifies that the maximum height of the solar panels, when in their most vertical position, will be 11 feet. The original SUP stated the panels would be mounted six feet above ground. County Planner Rob Quint told the commissioners that the specifications were correct but didn’t account for the fact that the panels rotate so that the edges of them are 11 feet above ground. Quint said Cloudbreak wanted the permit changed “to be more transparent.”

That solar farm is planned for 50 acres of ground south of Country Club Hills and north of County Road 24. That project also is scheduled to be online sometime in 2025.

In other business Tuesday the commissioners:

Awarded Wagner Equipment a bid of $310,289 for a Caterpillar 950 wheel loader with options;

Accepted a bid of $255 a share for four shares of Sterling Irrigation Co. water for the 2024 growing season to Alan Gentz;

Approved a petition for abatement of taxes to Shirley Unrein in the amount of $14,863.