Last edited 8:38 a.m., Feb. 19, 2014Officials with the city of Nixa are examining the pros and cons of working with a developer that wants to build the largest solar farm in the state in their own backyard.
On Feb. 5, O’Fallon-based solar developer Solexus Development LLC submitted a 47-page proposal to Nixa City Council that asks the city to enter into a 25-year power-purchase agreement.
With an agreement in place, Solexus would develop a 7.92-megawatt solar farm on land leased for an undisclosed amount from state Sen. Jay Wasson, R-Nixa. Other than initial connection fees – estimated at around $185,000 – the city wouldn’t incur upfront costs, but it would be tied to buying the power the solar farm would produce.
According to the agreement, the solar panels manufactured by North Carolina-based Strata Solar would be installed on 72 acres of Wasson’s land at 1586 W. Mt. Vernon St. in Christian County. Its projected annual output of 15.2 million kilowatt-hours is estimated to save the city $11 million through the course of the contract. The city would be charged 6.5 cents per kilowatt-hour in the first year, with rates escalating by 2.5 percent annually.
Solexus President David Bunge said in a phone interview this morning city officials are in the process of reviewing the proposal with the help of a third-party consultant. To his knowledge, Bunge said the Nixa solar farm would be the largest in the Show-Me State.
“At this point, we’ve made the proposal and city council has given the city administrator its blessing to go into some further due diligence, and they currently are working with an outside consultant to do a cost-benefit analysis,” Bunge said. “We certainly anticipate that findings would be favorable toward the project.”
Nixa Public Works Director Doug Colvin said Springfield-based engineering firm Toth and Associates Inc. was performing the cost-benefit analysis. Colvin said he expects the results of that analysis to be ready to be presented to council at its March 5 meeting.
“City Council is interested in it. If there is a possibility that we can bring some green power into town and save our customers some money, whether that be immediately or over the long-term, certainly, it wants to consider that,” Colvin said. “Those are the questions we need to answer.
“We’ll know a lot more after the 5th.”
Should Nixa officials sign off on the project, the solar site could be operational by early 2015, according to Bunge.
In September, Solexus entered into an
power-purchase agreement with City Utilities of Springfield to develop a 4.95-megawatt solar farm on 40 acres CU owns just east of town. Bunge said construction on that site should begin soon.
“We are wrapping up the zoning and permitting process and the final design. That should be wrapped up in the next few weeks and we are ready to start construction next month,” Bunge said, adding construction on that site should be complete by the end of June.
