Bethlehem

A Florida solar development firm is planning an 8-megawatt solar farm in Selkirk that would likely become the largest built such facility so far in the Capital Region.



Plans for the solar farm, which would be built near the Selkirk rail yard, have been submitted to town of Bethlehem officials, who must approve the project. The town planning board will first review the plans Tuesday night.



The developer is NextEra Energy, a Florida solar energy developer that has done other large solar farms in town.



Back in March of 2016, NextEra completed a 3.7-megawatt solar farm at a former clay mine in Selkirk.



The largest solar farms locally are smaller than 4-megawatts, although much larger projects are in the pipeline locally, including a 98-megawatt solar farm being planned for St. Johnsville in Montgomery County, according to records at the New York Independent System Operator.



NextEra Energy has already built two large solar farms in Bethlehem. A company spokesperson could not immediately be reached Monday to talk about the Selkirk project and how much it would cost.



The Selkirk project would be located at 93 Bridge St. on land owned by the Frick family. The project would cover 43 acres, or 1.89 million square feet of space.



An 8-megawatt solar farm can produce enough electricity to power about 1,300 homes.



Typically companies like NextEra sign long-term power contracts with a company or a government agency when it develops a solar farm, although the power typically is sent directly out onto the electric grid through the local utility such as National Grid.



New York state has financial incentives that make such projects profitable.



The solar farm that NextEra completed last year in Selkirk was financed with a 20-year power purchase agreement with the town of Bethlehem, which will use money generated from the sale of the power to National Grid to offset the town's overall electric costs.



It is unclear who the potential customer is for the 8-megawatt solar farm. A large solar farm can generate hundreds of thousands of dollars in revenue for both the developer and entity that buys the power.



NextEra Energy owns Florida Power & Light, the third-largest utility in the United States.



lrulison@timesunion.com ■ 518-454-5504 ■ @larryrulison

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