Shell applies to build 8,075-acre solar power site

Representatives of Savion, Project Development Manager Jeff Watson and Regional Development Director Tim Conboy, presented the project at a county board meeting Sept. 18.

“There is a little bit of dryland wheat still on the area, but given some of the other solar projects in the area, this seems to be the highest and best use of the land,” said Watson.

Savion plans to invest $1.2 billion toward this project, hailing Wasco County as an ideal location for renewable energy.

“The hydroelectric dams on the Columbia River are some of the individually largest energy projects in the entire United States,” Watson noted.

Plans for the site

In addition to solar arrays, the site design includes an 800 MW battery energy storage system, collector substation, power collection system and operation and maintenance building.

The project intends to tap into the Buckley to Grizzly 500 kilovolt line, a high-voltage transmission line operated by Bonneville Power Administration (BPA).

When Commissioner Scott Hege asked if the developers were planning to use double-sided solar panels, Watson replied that the specific type of solar array has not been finalized in the project’s design.

He explained that while the bifacial, or double-sided, panels are highly efficient, they can come with high import tariffs.

“One of the major things that we care about most are working with domestic manufacturers and so whether or not they’re bifacial, I think, is less important,” he said, adding that good sunlight tracking is a higher priority.

Following approval of this preliminary application for a site certificate, construction will begin in 2025 and the site is expected to become operational in 2028.

Transmitting power to customers

Watson told the board the most difficult task for energy plants is delivering its power to consumers.

“It is very difficult to build new transmission, as evidenced by how long it has taken to build the Boardman to Hemingway line that BPA has been trying to build for, I believe, well over a decade now,” he said. “Frankly, there just needs to be more transmission.”

Savion anticipates selling this energy either to Google for the data centers, or to its parent company, which would package and sell the energy to Bonneville Power for consumer use.

Hege asked Savion’s developers to consider including more fiber in their transmission design, to support the more remote areas of the county.

“That would be greatly appreciated,” he said.

Savion commits to cooperate with local community

Watson strongly emphasized that Savion has a receptive stance toward community feedback.

“We will now be going through the permit review stage,” Watson said. “Local stakeholders will have the ability to comment and let us know various aspects of our permit application that they believe should be changed or provide comments. We will then make those changes.”

Encouraging residents to get in touch with him and the development team, Watson said he wants to hear any comments, feedback or problems from the community.

Hege noted that the community has pushed back against solar developers in the past.

“The information we hear is like people don’t want to live next to giant glass,” he said. “Fields of glass with reflectivity and all that kind of stuff.”

Expressing confidence in Savion, Hege said he felt the Yellow Rosebush site is in a good location with an appropriate soil type and population density.

“My small interaction with you guys so far has been really good,” he said. “I think communication is really key in any of these kinds of projects.”

For questions and comments, the staff at Savion have invited the community to reach out to Development Manager Jeff Watson at jwatson@savionenergy.com or 410-349-7679, or Director of Development Tim Conboy at tconboy@savionenergy.com or 816-421-9622.