As the global transition to affordable clean energy increases its pace, OneEnergy Renewables has stepped up its own endeavors, developing increasingly larger solar projects across the United States. The company recently initiated land use permitting efforts for Goose Prairie Solar, a proposed 80 megawatt (MW) solar photovoltaic project located in Yakima County, Washington. On January 19, 2020, OneEnergy filed an Application for Site Certificate for the clean power generating facility with Washington’s Energy Facility Site Evaluation Council (EFSEC). As a company headquartered in Washington, OneEnergy is particularly excited to advance this clean energy project among others in its home state.

Goose Prairie Solar is located approximately eight miles east of the City of Moxee along Washington State Route 24. OneEnergy employs a rigorous site selection process to mitigate negative environmental impacts while partnering with landowners and local communities. When selecting this location, OneEnergy took into consideration many suitability characteristics, including but not limited to: the high solar energy resource, the underlying topography and land traits, access to electrical infrastructure, compatible zoning criteria, and low impacts to land use and habitat.

Goose Prairie Solar will bring several economic benefits to the local community and Washington state. Construction of this renewable energy resource would help Washington meet its goal of 100% clean electricity supply as set forth in the Clean Energy Transformation Act (CETA), passed by the Washington legislature in 2019. Generating close to 200,000 megawatt-hours of carbon-free electricity in the first year, Goose Prairie Solar will produce enough energy to power over 14,500 average homes and result in an annual emissions reduction of over 280 million pounds of CO2e. This is equivalent to removing roughly 27,000 passenger vehicles from the road. The project would support up to 300 jobs during peak construction while operations would provide Yakima County with additional property tax revenue. Local landowners can also expect a stable source of revenue to supplement their agricultural operations, which are subject to market volatility.

Once constructed, the project will encompass up to 625 acres consisting of solar photovoltaic (PV) panels, inverters, mounting infrastructure, an electrical collection system, an operation and maintenance building, access roads, interior roads, security fencing, and electrical interconnection infrastructure. The project will feature a single-axis tracking system designed to optimize energy production by slowly and silently rotating the solar PV panels to follow the path of the sun. An optional battery storage system—capable of storing and dispatching up to 80 MW of energy for 4 hours—may be included.

OneEnergy will comply with all local, state, and federal requirements for the project, consulting with relevant agencies and environmental stakeholders as part of its due diligence process. OneEnergy anticipates completing all EFSEC permitting activities and receiving the Site Certification in calendar year 2021. The Goose Prairie Solar project is expected to reach commercial operation as early as calendar year 2022.

Further details about the project can be found on EFSEC’s website: https://www.efsec.wa.gov/energy-facilities. 

Media inquiries may be directed to: Carmen Murray, phone: 206-922-7072, email: carmen@oneenergyrenewables.com