1,200-acre solar farm proposed in Lee County near Eldena

DIXON – A 1,200-acre solar farm is being proposed in Lee County near Eldena.

Eldena Solar LLC is petitioning the county for a special-use permit that would allow for a 175-megawatt solar farm in South Dixon and Nachusa townships. The footprint would be about one-fourth of a mile south of U.S. Route 52, a half mile east of Nachusa Road, north of U.S. Route 30 and east of Red Brick Road.

Eldena Solar is being developed by Minnesota-based Geronimo Energy, LLC. Last year, Geronimo received a special-use permit under Junction Solar LLC for a to build a 100-megawatt solar farm on about 760 acres of farmland in Alto and Reynolds townships.

The company also owns the 194-megawatt Green River Wind Farm in Lee and Whiteside counties north of Walnut, which became operational late last year with 74 turbines across 13,000 acres. That project is estimated to generate $35 million in new tax revenue and $20 million in landowner payments across 20 years.The Lee County Zoning Board of Appeals will meet at 7 p.m. Thursday to discuss the Eldena Solar petition. The meeting will be streamed on the Lee County YouTube channel and be available via Zoom.

Some community members are mixing up the Eldena Solar project with South Dixon Solar, a project by Duke Energy Renewable Solar LLC to develop a utility grade solar farm on about 4,000 acres south of the industrial park on state Route 26 in South Dixon Township, Zoning Administrator Dee Duffy said.

Duke Energy has not yet petitioned the county for a special-use permit, which it would need to build the massive solar farm.

The project got approval in March from the Quad Cities Regional Economic Development Authority to be included in its enterprise zone, which can accommodate incentives for larger-scale projects.