South Dakota goes wild with solar power

National Grid Renewables has started operations at its 128 MW Wild Springs Solar project, the largest solar project in South Dakota, which on its own more than doubled the amount of solar power being generated in the state.

By Tony Kryzanowski

The state of South Dakota is now attracting significant solar power investment, complementing what it already has in other renewable power generation. Renewable power, primarily from wind and hydro, already make up about 84 percent of the state’s power production. South Dakota has four hydro-electric dams on the Missouri River, which runs through part of the state, and it has been a leader in the U.S. in wind power.

The renewable energy tally in the state was added to recently when the 128 megawatt (MW) Wild Springs Solar project located about 20 miles south of Rapid City in Pennington County began producing power this past May, ahead of schedule.

The project was developed by Minnesota-based National Grid Renewables. Over the first 20 years of operation, the Wild Springs project is expected to generate $12 million in new tax revenue for the local county and have a nearly $30 million overall positive economic impact on the area. The project itself has an estimated 35-year lifespan.

Operation of this solar farm is projected to avoid 190,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions annually, the equivalent of removing roughly 42,000 cars from the road for one year. The project will also provide power to an estimated 37,000 homes annually.

Wild Springs is the third renewable project that National Grid Renewables has successfully developed into operation in the state. The solar project complements the 200 MW Crocker wind farm which National Grid Renewables owns and operates, as well as a smaller solar project in Pierre that the company developed and sold in 2016.

Today, the Wild Springs solar installation is by far the largest solar farm in operation in the state. What’s nota-ble about the company’s Wild Springs solar farm and Crocker wind farm is that both have significant long term power purchase agreements (PPAs) attached to them. In the case of the Crocker wind farm in Clark County, National Grid Renewables has PPAs with Walmart and Cargill.

At Wild Springs, a total of 114 MW of the 128 MW generated is attached to a PPA with the Basin Electric Power Cooperative. This wholesaler provides power to 140 member co-operative systems in nine states. It has more than 2,100 MWs of renewable capacity in its portfolio, including Wild Springs Solar, and has the largest renewable portfolio of any generation and transmission co-op in the U.S.

It’s noteworthy that this PPA with National Grid Renewables for power generated at Wild Springs was the co-op’s first with a utility-scale solar power producer.

“Basin Electric has been evaluating solar generation for many years,” Chris Baumgartner, Basin Electric Senior Vice President of Member and External Relations said at an event for Wild Springs Solar.

He added that the not-for-profit wholesale power provider has a diverse portfolio, including what it calls “dispatchable and non-dispatchable” power sources, that allows all resources to work together to provide the maximum amount of reliability at the lowest possible cost for its members. So the economics of the power generated by the Wild Springs Solar facility had to make sense for the co-op to consider signing the PPA, and obviously it did.

Originally scheduled to come online in 2022, construction of the Wild Springs project actually began in January 2023, after several years of the country suffering through the COVID pandemic and supply chain challenges.

The southwest region of South Dakota—where the Wild Springs project is situated, just outside of the community of New Underwood—has been described as having a “very good” solar resource by local industry experts and is expected to attract significantly more solar development. That is already happening with the anticipated commissioning of the Fall River 80 MW solar farm slated for the end of this year near the southwest community of Edgemont.

	Celebrating the Wild Springs solar project (above), which is located on 1,000 acres of ranch and crop land in the southwest region of South Dakota. National Grid Renewables had great local support for the Wild Springs project, and the company worked closely with local authorities to ensure minimal disruption as the project moved ahead.

The Wild Springs solar farm is situated on 1,000 acres of ranch and crop land. “Wild Springs is a relatively flat site and that is one of the reasons we selected this area,” says Joe Ibrahim, National Grid Renewables Vice President of Construction and Engineering. “The project required only a moderate amount of civil work to prepare the site for solar array installation.”

Describing itself as “farmer-founded”, Ibrahim says that the company is sensitive to the impact its projects have on the land base in all of its renewable projects.

The company was founded by Noel P. Rahn, a farmer from Minnesota who built the company on the premise that treating farmers and landowners fairly was paramount.

“National Grid Renewables was founded on the belief that we can do better—by landowners, by farmers, by the local community, and we hold true to those beliefs and values today,” says Ibrahim. “We are committed to being stewards of the land, and as such with any civil work, we are careful to protect and preserve top soil and re-vegetate the disturbed areas.”

National Grid Renewables had great local support for the Wild Springs project, and the company worked closely with local authorities to ensure minimal disruption as the project moved ahead. Minnesota-based Ames Construction, with over 10 years of experience in solar installations, was the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contractor on the project. Wild Springs generated considerable local employment, with 220 workers on site at its peak. It also supported local businesses such as R&R Trenching and Dirtworks from New Underwood, which was part of the vegetation management team.

Among the first construction activities to take place was tying into the New Underwood substation, with the power generated by Wild Springs solar tied into the Southwest Power Pool (SPP) transmission system.

Arizona-based First Solar was the solar module provider, supplying 347,580 of its next generation Series 6 thin film solar modules. Delivery of the modules was part of a supply agreement signed between National Grid Renewables and First Solar for 2 gigawatts of solar module supply to be delivered within the 2024-2025 time frame. Ibrahim says that the company puts a priority on working with domestic suppliers wherever possible.

Now that the project is up and running, third party operation and maintenance is being handled by Pennsylvania-based Miller Bros Solar.

As part of its overall development philosophy, National Grid Renewables says that it also goes out of its way to create strong community connections. The company initiates charitable funds for each of its large-scale renewable projects, intended to provide additional assistance to community activities and opportunities within the local host community. These donations are above and beyond any tax revenue generated by the company’s projects.

In the case of Wild Springs, the company pledged $500,000, parsed out at $25,000 per year for 20 years, to the new Wild Springs Education Fund that will be administered by the New Underwood Area Community Foundation, a local fund governed by the South Dakota Community Foundation.

“When we construct a clean energy project, we are laying down roots in a community, and we take our role as a good neighbor seriously,” says Ibrahim. “We have the opportunity and the responsibility to give back and be a positive impact on both the residents and the local economy.”

In addition to this donation, the company recently announced a $380,000 donation to education funds attached to two other solar projects it has under construction in Minnesota and $670,000 in charitable giving for two solar projects in Ohio expected to be completed later this year.

When the environmental science teacher at New Underwood High School reached out to National Grid Renewables and Ames Construction about the possibility of sharing some information about how solar power works and careers in the industry, both companies did not hesitate. Renewable energy already accounts for more than half of all jobs in the U.S. energy sector and clean energy jobs are growing significantly faster than the rest of the job market. Many of the new jobs created over the next 50 years as the renewable energy sector expands will be in rural areas like New Underwood.

After a couple of classroom presentations, the students took part in a field trip to the solar farm, toured the site as it was being constructed, and then participated in a question and answer session. There are plans to host another field trip now that the site is fully operational.

Ibrahim concludes that there is definitely more opportunity for solar power development in South Dakota.

The National Grid project illustrates the growing interest in solar power in the state, which has plenty of wide open spaces and lots of sunshine. Federal tax credits under the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) could also drive more solar project development in South Dakota. The IRA
includes $370 billion in tax credits and other support for clean energy initiatives, including solar.

A new transmission line expansion has been proposed in the eastern part of the state, which could carry solar and wind power.

Also driving renewables is a goal of utilities, such as Basin Electric Power Co-op, to diversify their sources of energy.

Q4 2024