Construction is scheduled to begin this month on a 500-kilowatt solar farm in Greeley. The city is partnering with three companies to build the 3 acre farm to generate electricity for Greeley’s wastewater treatment facility. Tom Dingeman, manager of Greeley’s Water and Sewer Department says this will be the largest solar farm in Weld County.

“We’re anticipating that the project will reduce our energy costs at the treatment plant by about 15 percent. And that’s a pretty significant amount.”

Oak Leaf Energy Partners, Enfinity America Corporation, and Intermountain Electric are funding the $1.5 million project.

The 2,119 panels will occupy will generate an average of 726,000 kilowatt hours of electricity per year, an annual reduction of 745 tons of carbon dioxide, or the equivalent of planting 19,103 trees.

The solar farm will be completed by the end of December. Dingeman says he expects the city will save between 800-thousand and 1.5 million dollars in energy costs over the next 20 years