Ohio’s largest solar farm just came online

The largest solar farm in Ohio’s first phase is now fully online and delivering clean electricity to the grid.

The 577-megawatt (MW) Fox Squirrel Solar is in Madison County, west of Columbus. It’s made up of three phases: the 150 MW Fox Squirrel 1, which is online; the 250 MW Fox Squirrel 2, which is expected to come online in mid-2024; and the 177 MW Fox Squirrel 3, which is scheduled to come online at the end of the year. When complete, it will be able to generate enough clean electricity to power the equivalent of 118,000 households.

Fox Squirrel Solar isn’t just Ohio’s largest solar farm; it’s the largest onshore clean energy project developed and built by EDF Renewables North America. It’s made up of 1.4 million solar panels and 159 inverters in total, and During peak construction of Phase 1, 650 workers were onsite installing 10,000 solar panels per day.

Canadian energy company Enbridge invested in Phase 1 and plans to make final investment decisions on the following phases through the year. According to EDF Renewables North America, the project has secured 20-year fixed-price power purchase agreements with a “strong investment grade counterparty” for the full generation capacity.

The Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) anticipates a lot of growth in the Buckeye State – it’s currently No. 22 among states for solar capacity, and it’s expected to add 8,960 MW over the next five years and jump to No. 4 in the US for capacity.

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Photo: EDF Renewables North America