If the solar energy farm is inactive, completely or substantially discontinuing the delivery of electricity to an electrical grid for a continuous 30 day period, excepting for items outside of control of the Project, or longer as approved by the Zoning Administrator in consultation with other agencies with submittal of requested documentation from the applicant or project owner, as needed; it shall be considered abandoned. (…) The applicant or current project owner shall remove the facilities (“decommissioning”) within six (6) months of receipt of notice from the County. If the facility is not removed within the specified time after the County Notice, the County may cause the removal of the solar energy farm with costs being borne by the Project Owner.
(…) Decommissioning activities are expected to take between 6–8 months.
louisa county, board of supervisor minutes, 6 mar 2017, belcher solar llc, packet p 52, 152
The process for determining whether a solar project has been “abandoned” are more complicated and time-consuming than one might think. The project owner is supposed to notify the County if the project is being shut down, but the details on how the county or town enforces that notification are generally missing. If officials must take legal action against the developer and/or property owner, the process to even begin decommissioning can take much longer than anticipated. And while this agreement for Louisa County considers the project to be abandoned after 6 months, other Virginia counties allow projects to remain inactive for up to 24 months (2 years) before beginning the process to enforce the decommissioning agreement.
Potential questions to consider:
- What are the penalties for a solar company if it does not notify officials that its solar project is being abandoned or closed?
- What is the county or town process for “causing the removal of the solar energy farm” if a project owner doesn’t begin the work in a timely fashion or fails to respond to county notifications?
- How long does the county or town estimate it would take to complete the legal action needed to compel compliance?
- What legal recourse does the county or town have if the developer fails to remove all project materials within the time stated in the agreement?
See also:
Decommissioning consists of the removal of above- and below-ground facility components, management of excess wastes and materials, and the restoration of native habitat. The exact procedures for decommissioning will depend upon the future use of the project location (e.g., decommissioning for open space habitat will involve returning the land to natural conditions).
(…) The current Project location is primarily used for timber. The project location will be restored to a state similar to its former condition or to a condition required for the future intended land use, should another use be determined.
louisa county board of supervisors, oct 2016 minutes, pp 152-153, belcher solar llc application packet
A general overview of what decommissioning includes is provided in most solar project submissions but specifics and details are frequently missing. For example, the “restoration of native habitat” and “returning the land to natural conditions” sound great, but what is meant by “native habitat” and “natural conditions?” It’s important to clarify whether the developer’s intent matches the understanding of county or town government and of residents. In this instance, only two sentences mentioned “restoring habitat” and “natural conditions,” but the submission packet included no vegetation inventory to document the “former condition” of the property. If the project is decommissioned 20 years from now, how will residents or county government be able to legally prove what the property’s “natural conditions” were and compel the developer to restore them?
Potential questions to ask:
- Will the “excess wastes and materials” be sent to a landfill within our county or will they go somewhere else? (This is important to clarify because large solar projects hold quite literally hundreds of thousands of solar panels.)
- What is the project developer’s definition of “native habitat” and “natural conditions?”
- What is the county’s definition of “native habitat” and “natural conditions?”
- What will the project developer do before the panels are installed to document the kinds of habitat and vegetation that cover this site?
- Does the project developer agree to replant the same kinds of vegetation and tree cover and in the same density that existed before any of the land was cleared?
- What are the penalties if the solar developer fails to remove the installation within 6 months, as stipulated by the county?
See also:
Every large-scale solar project requires that project developers provide a decommissioning agreement in writing to county and town officials and to the public. The details are very important because they constitute the sole legal commitment about what the solar developer is or is not required to do to remove the installation. Each solar project is slightly different and zoning rules vary from county to county, especially with regard to industrial-scale solar. Each decommissioning document needs to be reviewed carefully to make sure the process and end result is in the best interests of county and town taxpayers.
The most important question of all for any aspect of the decommissioning process is whether the details will be put in writing in a form that is legally binding and enforceable by the county or town.
For instance, how is the decision to decommission a large-scale solar project made? How will the land be restored and will all equipment and hardware be completely removed? What happens to the used solar panels if the manufacturers (most of whom are in China) refuse to take them back? And who pays in the end?
Details for the first four items are from documentation provided for the 2016/2017 hearing on the Belcher II Solar Project in Louisa County, while decommissioning costs are from the APA’s Planning Advisory Memo: