Bent Mountain solar project targets 2027 launch
Virginia has more than 140 utility-scale solar facilities, including 18 built last year, though only a handful of them are in the western third of the state. Nearby counties yet to see a utility-scale solar farm built within their borders include Floyd, Franklin, Montgomery, Patrick, and Pulaski.
A developer will soon begin construction of a small solar power plant in Bent Mountain.
Altus Power said it hopes to break ground by the end of the year or in early 2027. Thousands of solar panels will occupy grassland once used as an apple orchard, according to plans that received conditional approval in Roanoke County on Aug. 28.
The plant will have the capacity to generate up to 4 megawatts. Operation could begin late next year.
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Virginia has more than 140 utility-scale solar facilities, including 18 built last year, though only a handful of them are in the western third of the state. This will be Roanoke County’s first utility-scale solar power plant — one that supplies electricity to the public grid as opposed to a specific home, neighborhood or business.
Other nearby counties yet to see a utility-scale solar farm built within their borders include Floyd, Franklin, Montgomery, Patrick, and Pulaski, according to Cleanview, a solar energy data website.
Bent Mountain, with a population of about 1,000 as of 2020, could be rumbling with construction trucks in a few months, if all goes as planned. The hillside where the panels will go is a few minutes’ drive west of U.S. 221.
To begin construction, the developer will need to obtain a building permit. It must also give Roanoke County $50,000 toward the purchase of a new fire truck.
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A preliminary proposal called for 12,400 panels, but newer project records show there will be 9,910. The 535-watt panels will come from Ohio-based First Solar, the largest U.S.-based maker of solar panels, the documents showed. They will sit in rows across about 25 acres, leaving the remainder of a 36.4-acre parcel off Reed Road undisturbed.
David Radford, vice chair of the Roanoke County Board of Supervisors, said he voted for the project for multiple reasons. He believes in solar power and welcomes the potential opportunity for consumers to save money. In addition, he said, the site is near electrical power transmission lines and somewhat out of view. The site sits back from major roads amid the natural contours of the adjacent woodlands. Plantings to buffer the view will include white oak, beech, poplars, redbuds and evergreens, the plans said.
The landowner, Glenn Reed, turned to solar energy after he lost his apple business. Reed said the federal government allowed Chinese apple producers to sell products in U.S. markets and “put us small apple growers out of business.” He launched planning for the solar farm three years ago.
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“Best way I could make money off of my land,” said Reed, who will receive lease payments.
Reed said he believes that his neighbors will benefit, too, because Appalachian Power has accepted the project into its shared solar program with an expected operational date of Dec. 15, 2027. With shared solar, electricity users can subscribe to the output of a small-scale solar plant. They don’t actually receive the plant’s energy directly but should pay a lower electricity bill because solar power is cheaper to generate.
Reed has partnered with New Leaf Energy of Massachusetts, a solar energy developer, which carried the project through its initial stages. New Leaf has since sold the project to Altus Power, a Connecticut firm that develops, owns and operates multiple solar facilities.
Altus Power bought four other projects under development in various parts of the state, and is touting benefits to its “community solar” strategy for consumers. The upcoming solar projects “will deliver direct savings to eligible households and enterprises through solar bill credits, at a time when power prices continue to rise,” a company press release said.
It predicted the projects could help 5,000 households save on energy. Altus said interested parties can register at join.altuspower.com for details that will be released when they become available.
