500,000 panels on 1,000 hectares: environmentalists oppose giant solar plant

The Coyote Creek Agrovoltaic Ranch project could provide clean electricity to 45,000 homes, but it has opponents.

The American company DE Shaw Renewable Investments intends to implement a large-scale solar energy project called Coyote Creek Agrovoltaic Ranch in Sacramento, California, but the facility has been criticized by environmentalists. This is&written by the Sacramento Bee portal.

According to the portal, the Coyote Creek Agrovoltaic Ranch, worth $450 million, will include 500,000 solar panels, a 100 MW battery energy storage system and will occupy more than 1,000 hectares. The capacity of the solar station will be enough to provide electricity to about 45,000 homes in Sacramento.

However, environmentalists believe that the huge solar power plant will cause irreparable harm to the local landscape and the animals that depend on it. According to them, such facilities are needed, but not all territories are suitable for their construction.

“The question is where, and it's one of the worst places I've seen,” Defenders of Wildlife environmental consultant Kim Delfino said of the Coyote Creek Agrovoltaic Ranch project.

For its part, DE Shaw Renewable Investments said it went “beyond regulatory requirements” to limit the plant's impact on the local environment. The project is undergoing an environmental review, the results of which are expected to be published early next year.

The project has already been delayed for several years. The company emphasized that it has already delayed construction for several years. The plant was originally scheduled to start operating in 2024, but the project was later revised to minimize environmental impact. The new project will protect two streams that flow through the area and set aside 1,000 acres of land for ongoing conservation activities.

One of the reasons we chose this site and spent so much time on it was because it was considered low-value grazing land,” said Hai Martin, director of development for DE Shaw Renewable Investments.

The energy company estimates that the Coyote Creek Agrovoltaic Ranch project will create about 400 jobs and reduce carbon emissions by 200,000 tons per year, the equivalent of removing about 70,000 cars from the road. The project is scheduled for completion in 2027.