Photo by Dennis Schroeder / NREL
The Renewable Energy Siting Campaign, a new partnership between the Great Plains Institute (GPI) and The Nature Conservancy (TNC), with funding provided by Crown Family Philanthropies, will engage diverse stakeholders to identify “win-win” synergies that push clean energy development forward across the Midwest while preserving community values, protecting natural resources, and benefiting agricultural systems.
Illinois will serve as the focus for Phase 1 of the Renewable Energy Siting Campaign. In 2021, the Illinois General Assembly passed the Climate and Equitable Jobs Act, creating a road map for the state to reach 50 percent renewable energy by 2040 and 100 percent clean energy by 2050.
Achieving these aggressive decarbonization goals will require the widespread deployment of renewable energy technologies, including solar and wind projects. To achieve a long-term expansion of renewable energy, it is critical that the host communities for these facilities be brought in as partners for the next 25-50 years.
However, in early January, the Illinois General Assembly passed House Bill 4412, which significantly rolls back the authority of counties to shape renewable energy deployment consistent with county priorities. According to the new legislation, “a county may not adopt zoning regulations that disallow, permanently or temporarily, commercial wind energy facilities or commercial solar energy facilities from being developed or operated in any district zoned to allow agricultural or industrial uses.”
“Discussions around opportunities for siting and designing commercial-scale renewable energy projects need to begin at the community level,” said Val Stori, senior program manager at GPI for the Renewable Energy team. “Community stakeholder engagement around community vision is key to ensuring that solar’s myriad co-benefits accrue to host communities. While the recent legislative changes create challenges for communities to require co-benefits, they still have opportunities to shape development to align with community priorities.”
Renewable Energy Siting Campaign to align community and renewable energy goals for local co-benefits
GPI and TNC are engaging state and local stakeholders across Illinois to align community goals with renewable energy goals in a manner that confers local co-benefits. Focus areas for co-benefit discussions and guidance that are enabled by the Climate and Equitable Jobs Act include:
- fostering renewable development on mine reclamation areas and brownfields
- incorporating native habitat and improving groundwater quality in solar site designs
- integrating agricultural practices into renewable energy projects.
Through direct engagement with energy and non-energy stakeholders (e.g., agricultural, environmental, and underserved community representatives), host communities will have an opportunity to learn about renewable energy development processes and share their vision and concerns. Prioritizing the inclusion of host community members from the onset of siting projects addresses important equity concerns that serve to build partnerships between the wide array of stakeholders.
In subsequent phases, the campaign hopes to expand its work to engage more of the Midwest, including Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio, and Wisconsin. While the solutions and opportunities would be unique to each state, the state-level partnership approach is intended to propose a framework for consistent renewable energy siting practices across the region. Currently, there is limited discussion between communities, environmental groups, and government entities around siting and preferred design standards.
Encouraging collaboration among the diverse array of stakeholders builds a social license for deploying large-scale renewable energy that meets local development priorities while also driving Illinois—and the rest of the Midwest—toward its climate action goals.
Supporting a co-benefits approach to wind and solar in Illinois
Using appropriate site design, wind and solar farms create community co-benefits that can, for instance, improve groundwater quality and reestablish habitats for endangered species.
Initiatives such as the Illinois Pollinator-Friendly Solar Site Act, passed by the Illinois General Assembly in 2018 and enabled as part of the new siting legislation, show how planting a diversity of native species beneath and between solar panels can create pollinator-friendly habitats. Such habitats have been demonstrated to increase the number and diversity of pollinator species, and anecdotal information (studies are underway) shows increased bird and small mammal activity.
Furthermore, planting native vegetation can prevent erosion and improve both water and soil quality. GPI worked with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory to develop the nation’s first scientific assessment of water quality and runoff risk associated with solar farms and developed best practices for solar developers and local and state regulators to ensure that solar farm development provides local water quality benefits. The project, known as PV-SMaRT (Photovoltaic Stormwater Management Research and Testing), conducted field research across five states spanning coast to coast. The project also developed an easy-to-use calculator to estimate stormwater runoff from ground-mounted photovoltaic (PV) sites.
Agrivoltaics present opportunities for farmers
For Illinois farmers, the co-benefits of solar farms stretch beyond these ecosystem services. Putting some land, or less productive land, into solar allows farmers to diversify their source of income while providing financial stability in the case of unproductive crop yields. For example, in a recent news story from Iowa County, Wisconsin, one farmer reported earning greater revenue per acre for his solar field compared to what he earned growing corn.
For farmers hesitant about converting farmland for renewable energy development, agrivoltaics offers yet another co-beneficial land use arrangement. Agrivoltaics is the practice of using land simultaneously for solar photovoltaic electricity generation and food production.
In a project led by the US Department of Energy called InSPIRE (Innovative Site Preparation and Impact Reductions on the Environment), researchers have found that the shade photovoltaic systems provide can improve crop yields for heat-resistant plants. At the InSPIRE Arizona site, cherry tomatoes planted beneath solar panels saw yields double during a hotter-than-average year. The Institute for Sustainability, Energy, and Environment at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign is also leading research with partners in Colorado and Arizona to study the benefits of agrivoltaics across various climates.
Potential of reusing disturbed lands for renewable energy growth
Similar benefits can be realized for disturbed and degraded lands. According to an analysis by RMI, Illinois has a landfill solar potential of 1.5 gigawatts across 52 sites. The US Environmental Protection Agency’s RE-Powering Mapper tool shows Illinois with nearly 1,400 brownfields that have solar and or wind installation potential.
As the safe reuse of these lands is often limited, installing solar creates an opportunity for long-term economic investment in an otherwise unproductive landscape. Furthermore, federal funding through the Inflation Reduction Act creates a bonus credit of 10 percent for any renewable energy project located within an “energy community,” which includes brownfield sites.
As these lands are shifted to the development of renewable energy generation, caution should be paid to avoiding harmful impacts on wildlife and conservation lands. TNC’s recently published Site Renewables Right map helps communities and planners identify the best places for clean energy projects that ensure important natural areas are protected. In Illinois, that includes habitats for eagles, bats, and other threatened species.
Creating a social license to operate
The role that renewable energy development has in the path toward decarbonization stretches beyond its impact on the electric grid. With the proper siting design, solar and wind farms can offer myriad co-benefits to local communities and environments. The recent legislation passed in Illinois presents challenges to engaging stakeholders across different levels of government. It reinforces the importance of giving host communities the ability to shape economic development in alignment with their own values. Viewing local governments and communities as partners rather than as opposition serves to build a social license to pursue the clean energy projects necessary for rapid decarbonization.
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The photo for this post was provided by Photo by Dennis Schroeder / NREL.
