Ohio regulators consider another 470 MW of solar

A monumental summer for the future of Ohio solar is continuing strong, as the state’s Power Siting Board is set to conduct two hearings that could eventually lead to the development of 470 MW of solar capacity in the Buckeye state.

The first hearing, set to be held on August 16, 2021 at 6 p.m. at Bunsold Middle School in Marysville, Ohio is for the proposed 325 MW behemoth Union Solar project, the second-largest project ever proposed in the state and impressive in size, even on a national scale.

The project is proposed to lay on approximately 2,013 acres within an approximately 3,355-acre project area in Washington and York townships in Union County, just northwest of Columbus, and would be developed by Acciona.

The following hearing is set to be held on August 19, 2021, at 6 p.m. at the Fire/Township Meeting Room in Rosewood, Ohio, and is for the proposed Clearview Solar I project, a 144 MW installation planned for Adams Township in Champaign County, just west of Columbus.

Open Road Renewables is developing the project, and if approved, it will sit on 1,075 acres within an approximately 1,195-acre site area.

While Ohio is currently home to 527 MW of solar capacity, the majority of which came online in 2020, project proposal hearings have been coming in at an unprecedented rate this summer, with hearings set for projects that would exponentially increase that capacity figure.

The Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) predicts that Ohio will see significant solar expansion over the next five years, adding a forecasted 2,955 MW, good for 11th in the nation over that period. That figure could end up being much higher, as this summer alone the Power Siting Board has set hearings for 1061 MW worth of utility scale solar and has approved 877 MW for construction.

Outside of the 1,938 MW that have been either approved or are under consideration, the state is soon slated to get a major capacity boost, as the Hillsborough Solar project nears completion. The 200 MW installation, which had construction begin last year, will be the largest active project in the state once it is completed.