Oregon approved to build one of the biggest solar plants in the US

zohaibahd

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Keeping Oregon green: Oregon is building a solar power plant that will provide 1.2 gigawatts of solar energy, with an equal 1.2 gigawatts of battery storage, making it one of the largest solar producers in the US. It will utilize nearly 4 million individual solar panels to generate enough emissions-free electricity for around 800,000 homes annually.

In Oregon, the Energy Facility Siting Council (EFSC) holds the authority to oversee the development of large-scale energy projects. The council has just given the green light to start construction on the massive Sunstone Solar project, unanimously approving the final permits needed. Pine Gate Renewables, a developer of utility-scale solar and energy storage projects across the US, is building the facility.

Pine Gate CEO Ben Catt noted that gaining approval in Oregon was challenging given the state's rigorous permitting requirements. However, he stated that their team worked diligently with local stakeholders to create a "win-win" situation for the state and the Morrow County community.

One innovative aspect is a $1,000 per acre investment fund that Pine Gate negotiated with agricultural organizations. This county-managed pool will offset any impacts from the solar development. It will also support programs that bolster the long-term viability of Morrow's wheat farming economy.

The project received a nod from Senator Ron Wyden, who highlighted it as a prime example of federal investments he championed in the Inflation Reduction Act. He also praised the Sunstone plan as a key part of the broader nationwide push for similar energy solutions.

With federal incentives and state approvals secured, Pine Gate can now get into the nitty-gritty of engineering, procurement, and phased construction, which kicks off in 2026. The solar farm's output will feed into the Bonneville Power Administration grid.

The US is massively pushing solar energy. An earlier report highlighted that solar alone made up 60 percent of the 20.2 gigawatts of fresh capacity that went online in the first half of 2024. Meanwhile, solar and battery together accounted for 80 percent of all new electricity capacity added during the same period.

Currently, the largest solar project in the US is Edwards & Sanborn Solar and Energy Storage, located in southern Kern County, California. It produces 864 megawatts of solar with 3,287 megawatt-hours of storage capacity.

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The solar farm will have a whopping 2.4 gigawatt capacity

So, they are like, we will double what the mad scientist could do!

mad-scientist.png


Good luck!
 
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I wonder how many reptiles and rodents will be killed so we as humans can use the sun for more than warmth and light.
Luckily birds can fly over these farms without been cooked as well, so all good.
 
It should read: "The U.S. is making natural gas and nuclear energy prohibitively expensive through excessive regulation as well as financial incentives which make solar the only profitable way to produce energy causing it to be 60% of fresh......."

and thats good, your welcome.
 
We are already at about 50% hard renewable generation here in oregon, this will add about a thousand jobs and put us over that 50% of non-harvested non-mined non-polluting sources of electricity.
 
I wonder how many reptiles and rodents will be killed so we as humans can use the sun for more than warmth and light.
Luckily birds can fly over these farms without been cooked as well, so all good.


Unfortunately nothings perfect, but the aim is 100 to 500 years on , reduce climate warming to under 3 degrees - which is lot , and still may cause runaway problems.
Human population is set to decline 20 years if not sooner. Less babies in West , climate change will ravish Africa etc , India so they will struggle to feed their kids - floods , droughts etc

Ie solve this problem, and then clean up our mess for reptiles, plants , birds etc

to another commentator - gas and oil have received billions of dollars of subsidies and tax breaks, same as ICE cars . Most countries begged these companies to rip out their land, sea beds etc
 
Objectively solar tech should be reserved for special projects, putting it in to run the grid or some portion of it is a colossal mistake. There is just too long a list of reasons why this tech is incredibly inefficient. Energy production should be standardized and governments should not be able to interrupt it. Decisions like these is how we ended up in 36 trillion in debt. We have been running of combustible liquids and solids for centuries and somehow, panel tech is described as renewable. A direct comparison to combustibles puts panel tech as far less renewable than combustibles and for overall efficiency quite trash.
 
Objectively solar tech should be reserved for special projects, putting it in to run the grid or some portion of it is a colossal mistake. There is just too long a list of reasons why this tech is incredibly inefficient. Energy production should be standardized and governments should not be able to interrupt it. Decisions like these is how we ended up in 36 trillion in debt. We have been running of combustible liquids and solids for centuries and somehow, panel tech is described as renewable. A direct comparison to combustibles puts panel tech as far less renewable than combustibles and for overall efficiency quite trash.

I can hear the money from the oil companies jingling in your pocket
 
Unfortunately nothings perfect, but the aim is 100 to 500 years on , reduce climate warming to under 3 degrees - which is lot , and still may cause runaway problems.
Human population is set to decline 20 years if not sooner. Less babies in West , climate change will ravish Africa etc , India so they will struggle to feed their kids - floods , droughts etc

Ie solve this problem, and then clean up our mess for reptiles, plants , birds etc

With the amount of space and material used, you think this will work.
Recycling also creates carbon, now recycling the panels will mean less carbon, but it won't eliminate it.
With the amount of panels already used around the world, we as humans are just adding more crap into the world.


I love how you( I ) go and read a website talking about how eco friendly solar is, but they don't mention the killing of animals in that huge piece of land that needs to be stripped of every rock and animal living there or the birds being cooked when it's built.
But as you said, this is for the future.

So F the animals for now.

 
I’m sure one of the first things Trump will do is stop this. Can’t cut into those fossil fuel profits…

It's not the "profits" it's the savings. Get it now? Folk need to spend less on energy and solar is not the way. Head out of sand time for you
 
As long as they place these I places that cant be used for other purposes. here in minnesota I see them over a farm field... what a waste.
 
Welcome to more global warming. Don’t believe? Try standing in the middle of a solar farm in the middle of a sunny day and experience how hot it gets there. Black solar panels absorb heat, not reflect the heat back.
 
Welcome to more global warming. Don’t believe? Try standing in the middle of a solar farm in the middle of a sunny day and experience how hot it gets there. Black solar panels absorb heat, not reflect the heat back.
I'm not an expert in this area but technically I think the black solar panels absorb light (as in sunlight) with some of it being converted to the heat you feel. The solar panels work off of light rather than heat.
 
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