The development of a large solar farm, Sky Ranch Solar project has been approved by the city council, in the city of Belen. The project is designed to occupy 1,600 acres and will be located in the northern part of the town on the 6,000-acre Rancho Cielo between Belen and Los Luna. Development in that area of Belen has been going on for almost 20 years, and this particular project will help to open up developable land in the west side of Interstate 25 in the future for residential, commercial and industrial development. The cost of the project is estimated at $273 million, which will be generated via industrial revenue bonds.
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The project is owned by Sky Ranch Solar and will be executed by NextEra Energy Resources, one of their subsidiaries. The new solar farm will be designed with photovoltaic solar arrays that have the ability of generating up to 190 megawatts of clean and renewable energy. The photovoltaic panels will be made up of glass, polymer, aluminum, copper and semiconductor materials, which will be recycled and recovered at the end of their life span. These solar cells will also be enveloped between two plastic layers, as well as a layer of tempered glass and polymer sheet, to prevent corrosion in the future. Lithium ion batteries of up to 100 megawatts will be employed to store renewable energy, making it available when there is no sunshine. The batteries will also serve to improve the efficiency and reliability of the electric grid, thereby making adequate solar energy available for much of the daytime.
Pending the conclusion of negotiations between the city and NextEra Energy Resources, the groundbreaking of the project has been scheduled for the beginning of 2022, and is expected to be up and running by December 2022, with proper management, the system can last for up to 15 years.
