More than 1,000 acres near Wadsworth are slated to become a massive solar farm — called the largest of its kind in the country.
The Washoe Board of County Commissioners today approved a special use permit for Dodge Flat, four parcels amounting to 1,600 acres, 1,200 of which are planned to become fields of photovoltaic solar panels northwest of Wadsworth.
The project, expected to take about a year to complete, will provide 500 megawatts of power each year, as well as 200 megawatts of storage.
“It’s a huge project,” said project representative John Berkich, former assistant Washoe County manager. “(It’s the) largest project of its kind in the United States. This is time to meet the demands of all the tech companies moving to the region.”
The project still needs a review by the Truckee Meadows Regional Planning Commission, as well as various approvals, such as building and grading permits.
“This gives us resiliency of our power supply,” said Commissioner Vaughn Hartung.
“I think it’s a cool project,” echoed Commissioner Kitty Jung.
Dodge Flat is promising that the project will:
- Produce approximately 500,000 megawatt-hours of clean, emissions-free power annually
- Facilitate grid reliability during peak demand periods via the project’s energy storage component
- Allow for the reduction of 510,000 tons of carbon dioxide annually, and
- Provide jobs for a peak construction workforce of 500 workers, with 10 full-time off-site jobs after project completion.
No construction date was provided by the developers.
Disclosure: Commissioner Vaughn Hartung is a financial supporter of ThisisReno.
