A new solar farm has been proposed for Benton County, Wash., while another massive renewable project in the county has passed one state hurdle.

On Tuesday, Innergex Renewable Energy briefed the Washington State Energy Facility Site Evaluation Council (EFSEC) on its proposal to build a 470-MW solar farm in northwestern Benton County, just west of the environmentally sensitive Rattlesnake Mountain. Meanwhile, the council unanimously voted that a proposed wind-and-solar complex in the middle of Benton County meets the county’s land-use plan.

Benton County, in southwestern Washington, is home to the highly contaminated Hanford nuclear reservation, which is surrounded by an environmentally pristine buffer zone that includes Rattlesnake Mountain.

The county is already home to 63 wind turbines operated by Richland-based Energy Northwest, which owns and operates the Columbia Generating Station nuclear plant in southern Hanford. The company’s Nine Canyon Wind Project covers about 8 square miles and has a nameplate capacity of 96 MW.

Innergex wants to build its solar farm on 3,000 acres of flat farmland just west of Hanford’s buffer zone. The project would include batteries capable of storing power for four hours. The site is next to a major transmission line and is 30 to 40 miles from the nearest towns and cities. Laura O’Neill, Innergex senior environmental coordinator, said farm owners in the area are interested in the project and that the proposed site avoids environmentally sensitive lands.

The site’s fence would include openings for large animals to pass through. Western Hanford and the area west of the reservation are home to hundreds of elk.

O’Neill said Innergex plans to hold meetings with community members in July. Construction is tentatively scheduled to begin in early 2024 and is supposed to be finished by the fall of 2025.

Founded 1990 in Longueuil, Québec, Innergex develops hydropower, wind and solar projects, and has interests in roughly 80 facilities generating about 3,800 MW.

Scout Project Advances

Meanwhile, EFSEC decided Tuesday that a proposed wind-and-solar project south of Kennewick meets the land-use and zoning regulations for its site.   

Scout Clean Energy of Boulder, Colo., has proposed building up to 224 wind turbines — about 500 feet tall — on 112 square miles of mostly private land in the Horse Heaven Hills. About 294 acres of that land would also hold solar panels. The entire project is expected to be capable of producing 1,150 MW at peak output, roughly the same capacity as Columbia Generating Station.

While the Energy Northwest and Scout projects are both in the Horse Heaven Hills area, the former’s wind turbines are deep inside the hills and not visible from the Tri-Cities area that includes Richland, Kennewick and Pasco. The Scout project would be visible from Kennewick, prompting significant public outcry against the turbines cluttering up residents’ views of the landscape. 

The Benton County government, which opposes the Scout project, had found the wind-and-solar farm incompatible with the agriculturally zoned area. However, EFESC concluded differently. 

The conflict complicates matters for Scout. In Washington, a renewable energy developer can choose to go through EFSEC or the county government for land-use and zoning approval. Because Benton County’s government opposes the project, Scout is going through EFSEC. Going through the county government would require receiving a conditional use permit from county commissioners.

EFSEC’s decision Tuesday does not translate into approval for Scout’s project, EFSEC Chair Kathleen Drew said. Under state law, as EFSEC continues its deliberations, the agency is required to get input from Benton County on the project, specifically on what the county would include in a conditional use permit.