Glenrock solar farm applies to start work

CASPER — An up-and-coming renewable energy venture on Tuesday filed an application for the construction of a large-scale solar generation and storage project that could add an additional 500 megawatts to the state’s energy portfolio.

The Dutchman Renewable Power Project would see the construction of utility-scale photovoltaic solar panels, battery banks, a new substation and three miles of overhead transmission lines to bring its electric generation near Glenrock to the wider Wyoming grid.

The application comes at a gangbusters moment for solar energy, as photovoltaic became the decisive factor pushing renewables past coal power generation and into the top spot on the U.S. grid for the first time on record earlier this year.

The Dutchman Project is proposed on private land approximately 1.5 miles northeast of Glenrock and about 25 miles east of Casper. The 4,305-acre project area stretches just north of the North Platte River from Arrow Road to the Dave Johnston Power Plant and includes 9.6 acres for a transmission line corridor that will need permitting beyond the site boundary.

If approved by the Wyoming Industrial Siting Council, construction would begin in 18 months with completion estimated by July 2028.

According to project developer BrightNight, the project will employ 447 people during peak construction and two to five full-time staff members once operational. BrightNight estimates in total, the facility will generate “26 permanent jobs in this sector, though not all of these will be direct hires.”

Overall, BrightNight says the project will generate $56.2 million is state and local taxes during construction and “generate approximately $9.6 million in property tax revenues during its first full year of operation,” or “approximately $157.1 million over its 40-year operating life.”

The project is expected to cost about $500 million according to media reports.

It comes just months after the council greenlit the state’s largest-ever solar project in Laramie County, Cowboy Solar Project from Canada-based Enbridge Inc, which will add 771 megawatts of renewable capacity and 269 megawatts of battery storage to the states energy mix in coming years.

That project is the state’s first major solar development in more than half a decade and will close to octuple its current photovoltaic capacity, most of which is supplied by the Sweetwater Solar development brought online in 2018 with a nameplate capacity of 98 megawatts.

The Dutchman project is the latest in the formidable joint venture between business and technology companies BrightNight and Cordelio Power, and its Wyoming application comes shortly after the team secured $414 million in financing for a 300 megawatt Box Canyon Project in Arizona.

The venture is quickly establishing itself at the top player in solar development with a portfolio that includes 30 projects with over 18 gigawatts of capacity across nine states.

The ISC will hold a public hearing on the Dutchman proposal on Nov. 7 and Nov 8.