National Grid Renewables started operations at its Wild Springs Solar Project in Pennington County, South Dakota. The largest solar project in South Dakota to date, Wild Springs is a 128-MW solar project located in the Southwest Power Pool (SPP) with a 114 MW power purchase agreement (PPA) with Basin Electric Power Cooperative.

“The completion of Wild Springs marks a significant step in our commitment to bringing clean, sustainable energy solutions to the state of South Dakota,” said Blake Nixon, president of National Grid Renewables. “We’re excited to see the impact of this project reach local and state residents through additional tax revenue, charitable contributions and, above all else, clean energy solutions.”

Wild Springs is anticipated to provide approximately $29.5 million in direct economic impact over its first 20 years of operations, including $12 million in new tax revenue over the same time period. Additionally, and unique to National Grid Renewables, Wild Springs plans to contribute $500,000 in charitable giving to the local New Underwood school district over the first 20 years of operations.

“Basin Electric has been evaluating solar generation for many years,” said Chris Baumgartner, Basin Electric senior VP of member and external relations. “We are excited to add solar to our all-of-the-above generation portfolio which includes dispatchable resources such as coal and natural gas and non-dispatch-able resources such as wind and now solar. This diverse portfolio allows all these resources to work together to provide the maximum amount of reliability at the lowest-possible cost for our members.”

The project will also generate enough clean, homegrown energy to provide the equivalent electrical usage of an estimated 37,000 homes each year, or 740,000 homes over the first 20 years of operation.

News item from National Grid Renewables