Massive solar project planned near wind farm in coastal Maine

[jpak]

https://bangordailynews.com/2018/05/31/business/massive-solar-project-planned-near-wind-farm-in-coastal-maine/

An energy development company is requesting a zoning change for more than 700 acres of blueberry fields in eastern Hancock County where it hopes to establish a 100-megawatt solar farm.

The site in Township 16, on land owned by Elliott Jordan & Son Inc., is roughly a mile away from a wind turbine that is part of Novatus Energy’s 51-megawatt Hancock Wind farm which, according to a report by Vox, has the tallest land-based wind turbines in the country. Electricity transmission lines owned by power distribution company Emera run through the proposed solar development site.

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Installation of a 50-megawatt project planned for the Sanford Seacoast Regional Airport is expected to begin later this year, pending approval by state and municipal officials. An 80-megawatt solar project is planned in Farmington and another 100-megawatt project at a former military air base in Limestone.

According to ISO-New England, the nonprofit that manages the region’s power grid, there are other 100-plus-megawatt solar projects being considered in Maine that have expressed preliminary interest in becoming part of New England’s electric supply system. One of them, according to a Centralmaine.com report, is a 150-megawatt solar project that would be built at a former military radar site in Moscow and Caratunk.

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