Solar power company makes to application to build solar farm in ... - Chicago Tribune

Solar power company makes to application to build solar farm in Crete Township

After its solar farm permit from 2018 expired, a solar power company is taking another stab at establishing a solar farm in Crete Township.

Crete Cottage Grove Solar 1 is proposing a 3.42-megawatt solar farm at the northwest corner of Munz Road and Cottage Grove Avenue in Crete Township, said Stephanie Sienkowski, director of development for Soltage, LLC, which owns the company.

The solar farm, which has a project life expectancy of 40 years, will be interconnected with and sold to ComEd, Sienkowski said.

“Particularly community solar farms, they benefit homeowners because they can subscribe to the energy made at the solar farm,” Sienkowski said.

The Will County Planning and Zoning Commission will hold a public hearing at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday at the Will County Office Building, 302 N. Chicago St., Joliet, to discuss plans for the solar farm, which would be built on nearly 34 acres. The battery energy storage system would be located on 5 acres in the northern part of the property, according to a staff report.

In 2018, the group was approved for a solar farm special use permit, and two extensions were approved, but that special use permit ultimately expired, according to a county staff report.

Sienkowski said after the 2018 solar farm special-use permit was issued, the company applied for the Illinois Adjustable Block Program, an incentive program supporting the development of new solar energy.

The program selects solar farm projects annually, Sienkowski said, but the Crete Township solar farm wasn’t chosen in 2019. After that, the company continued working on its plans and requested two extensions for their special-use permit until it expired, she said.

Sienkowski said it’s unclear if the project will be submitted again for the Illinois Adjustable Block Program because the Inflation Reduction Act provides a federal investment tax credit to solar projects.

Will County Land Use Department spokesman Mike Theodore said the county has received 37 solar facility special-use permit applications since 2017. Twenty were approved, seven under the state’s Future Energy Jobs Act in 2018 and have since submitted building and site development permits, Theodore said.

Of the seven, four have completed their permitting process and two are in the construction phases of permitting, he said.

The Crete Cottage Grove Solar 1 proposed solar farm would have 9,325 modules, which translates to 50 rows of panels mounted on an axis tracking system allowing them to move with the sun, according to the staff report.

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Crete Cottage Grove Solar 1 has completed a glare study and found the solar farm design “would not likely produce glare,” according to the report.

The applicant has also entered into an agricultural impact mitigation agreement with the Illinois Department of Agriculture “to preserve agricultural land that is impacted by the construction of a solar farm and eventual deconstruction of a solar farm,” according to the report.

The solar farm and battery energy storage system will not be detrimental to or endanger the public’s health, safety, morals or general welfare, the report states.

Sienkowski said the company maintains the land and plants pollinators throughout the life of the project. Once removed, the company ensures the land isn’t ruined.

“At the end of the day, the project restores the land,” Sienkowski said.

Will County Board member Sherry Newquist, D-Steger, said she looks forward to learning more about the Crete Cottage Grove solar farm project in her district, and encouraged people to attend the public hearing.

“I am generally in favor of solar farms,” Newquist said. “This particular project seems worth supporting, from what I know about it so far.”