Hereford Solar will be in Deaf Smith County (Circled in Orange) which has Transmission Lines Available.
According to Re-Powering Mapper from the EPA: Hereford, Texas within Deaf Smith County (Circled in Blue) Produces an Annual Average Solar Global Horizontal Irradiance Greater than 5.51 (kWh/m²) per Day.
According to turbingenerator.org: Using the latitude of Hereford, Texas along with historical data of sunlight and weather patterns we can estimate that a fixed mounted solar panel will receive an average of 5 hours per day in this area. That number can be increased with better technology including add a 1-axis or 2-axis tracking mount, which would increase the average peak sun hours per day to 7.2 hours and 7.8 hours, respectively.
According to txrenewables.net: Deaf Smith County (Circled in Red) is Expected to Generate 515MW of Solar, yet Currently Produces Zero Solar Electricity.
How Much is Solar Lease Worth in Deaf Smith County?
According to TexasBusinessFiling, “Bigger tracts over 100 acres tend to rent at $300 to $500 an acre across Texas and normally around the $500/acre range across most of the Southeast.”
According to SolarLandLease, “Compare that to central Texas, where lease rates are typically in the $400-$600 per acre range.”
According to StrategicSolarGroup, “Larger tracts over 100 acres for major power plant projects commonly rent at $300 to $500 an acre across Texas and normally around the $500/acre range across most of the Southeast.”
How Many Acres are Needed for a Solar Farm?
We Need 650 Acres Near the Existing Hereford Wind Project Infrastructure.
Hereford Wind Project
Hereford Solar will be near Hereford Wind Project.
The 200 MW Hereford Wind Project located in Texas became operational in 2014. EDF Renewables handled the development of this project.
Encompassing approximately 15,000 acres in Deaf Smith County, southeast of the town of Hereford, the project commenced construction of 54 GE 1.85-megawatt, and 50 Vestas V100 2.0-megawatt wind turbines in November 2013. The project feeds into the CREZ (Competitive Renewable Energy Zone) transmission infrastructure which enables the high electricity demand areas in the state to access the strong low-cost renewable generation resources of West Texas and the Texas Panhandle. The power is sold into the ERCOT (Electric Reliability Council of Texas) power market and covered by a long-term, fixed-price hedge agreement for a portion of the expected energy production.
With the Hereford project in operation, the Group’s installed capacity since entering the Texas market in 2012 reaches 672 MW with another 394 MW in construction.
Hereford Wind will generate enough electricity to power approximately 55,000 homes – according to US Energy Environmental Protection Agency methodology – avoiding approximately 375,000 metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions per year, the equivalent of the annual emissions from approximately 80,000 passenger vehicles.
According to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory: Typically, a large solar power project will require several years of high-quality modeled data and at least one year of on-site measured data at the final stages of the project execution.
