Representatives from Samsung recently met with Union County Commissioners, Leesburg, Taylor and Clairbourne township trustees, North Union Local School District officials and Richwood Mayor Scott Jerew to discuss the development of a third new solar farm in Union County called “Samsung Richwood Solar Project.”
At a Village of Richwood Council meeting on July 26, Jerew told the council that this solar farm will be located at the intersection of Routes 4 and 37 going into Magnetic Springs.
The mayor said he was shocked that Richwood is included in the solar project’s name although it is not within town limits.
“They have 1,200 acres signed up right now, and they would like to have 1,400 for the project,” Jerew said.
The mayor added that the three proposed solar farms – Samsung along with the proposed Acciona and Cadence solar projects – would total nearly 10,000 acres.
County Commissioner Christiane Schmenk told the Journal-Tribune on July 29 that the Samsung Richwood Solar Project is supposed to be 250 mega-watts of power, which is slightly smaller than the Cadence solar project.
Schmenk and Matt Schilling with the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio also said that if the Samsung project is in the PJM new service queue, has received its system impact study from PJM and has paid the PJM application fee by the effective date of Senate Bill 52 then the project will be grandfathered in.
Samsung has a tentative schedule to hold a public information meeting in the fourth quarter of 2021. The plan is to have the solar farm in commercial operation by 2024.
According to the July 20 meeting minutes, the Union County Soil and Water Conservation District has a ditch maintenance project in the vicinity of the proposed solar farm.
The existing ditch will be cleaned out and some portions of an existing tiled ditch will be daylighted. Representatives from Union County Soil and Water Conservation District said they need a 75-foot easement to construct and maintain the ditch. Based on the planned construction of this project, the maintenance should be completed before the construction of the Samsung solar project.
Union County Commissioners, township trustees, and representatives from Union County Soil and Water Conservation District reportedly also expressed concern about maintaining the functionality of the drain tile systems in the area of the project.
Meeting attendees also shared concerns about fencing and landscaping surrounding the project and what the setback from the property line would be.
“It’s going to affect taxes for the schools and it’s going to affect villages far outside the village because those farm acres are now going to be part of … an energy group,” Jerew recently told the village council. “The schools are going to benefit for the next 30 years.”
Jerew said the commissioners have hired an attorney “to make sure everything’s going to be done correctly.”
Additionally, he raised concerns about runoff into Fulton Creek. Hull & Associates, LLC, a project development and engineering consulting firm, reportedly told the meeting attendees on July 20 that the solar project will be subject to the Ohio EPA Construction Stormwater General permit, and erosion and sediment control plans will be prepared.
“They assured me that the runoff from the solar fields will be less than it is for farmers because the only time the solar panels will be flat will be at noon because they’re on a rotation. They will follow the sun,” the mayor explained.
Engineers and county commissioners are reportedly analyzing Fulton Creek to see the impact of any runoff.
A U.S. engineer is reportedly helping the South Korean company with the project.
So, where does this stored solar energy go?
“There’s one company that will buy all this electricity from Ohio, Indiana (and) Pennsylvania and they regulate the electricity from that company,” Jerew explained. “That company buys it, and they ship it wherever they regulate for all three states. They’re paying extremely well to farmers. It’s hard to blame a farmer for not signing up.” The mayor also encouraged councilmembers to be educated about the solar farm development and to use their voices as elected officials.
“Solar’s coming. Keep reading. Keep talking. Voice your opinions, but solar’s coming close to the edges of town,” Jerew said.