Published 4:30 pm Tuesday, April 12, 2022
A California company has applied to build side-by-side solar-power complexes on nearly 1,800 acres of rangeland in northeast Yakima County, Wash.
Cypress Creek Renewables of Santa Monica submitted an application last week to the Energy Facilities Site Evaluation Council to construct the High Top and and Ostrea solar projects about 30 miles east of Yakima.
High Top would have a footprint of up to 926 acres, while Ostrea would take up to 811 acres, according to the application. Cypress Creek plans to lease the property from one private landowner.
“Project sites are currently active rangeland with a low number of cattle present,” the application states. “However, neither site has been used for crop production for 25 or more years, and neither is currently irrigated.
“Cheatgrass is dominant in the previously plowed areas on the site and is not well-suited for livestock grazing year-round, particularly in the summer due to sharp awns on the plant,” according to the application.
Cypress Creek operates in 25 states, according to a company press release, and was bought last year by a Stockholm-based equity fund, EQT Infrastructure. EQT said Cypress was its first acquisition of a U.S. renewable energy company.
Cypress said in its application to EFSEC that it was attracted to Washington by a state law requiring the state’s electrical generation to be free of greenhouse gases by 2045.
The law has drawn other solar-power investors to sunny Central Washington. The Yakima Farm Bureau has opposed the projects. Landowners, including some farmers and ranchers, say they welcome the additional and reliable income.
High Top and Ostrea will each have the capacity to generate 80-megawatts, according to the application. The projects would connect to PacifiCorp and Bonneville Power Administration transmission lines passing through the area.
Cypress has asked EFSEC to expedite its application. The company says the solar projects are consistent with county land-use laws and that environmental concerns can be addressed. EFSEC has yet to rule on the request.
