A special use permit for another solar project near Sparta was approved by the Randolph County Board of Commissioners at their Jan. 5 meeting.
This particular project is from RWE Clean Energy and R3 Gateway LLC and is called the Gateway Solar Project. It is a large 250 megawatt project spanning across approximately 2,711 leased acres, of which 1,300 acres would be behind the fenced project area, in an area near Sparta, Coulterville and Tilden. It is noted that this project will utilize former coal mine ground as part of the project is on land owned by Peabody Energy.
It is hoped to go online in 2028 and is estimated to be able to generate enough energy to power over 42,571 homes.
For more from the commissioners meeting, please see this week’s print edition.