National Grid Renewables has initiated operations at its Wild Springs Solar Project in Pennington County, S.D.

The largest solar project in the state to date, Wild Springs is a 128 MW development located in the Southwest Power Pool (SPP) with a 114 MW power purchase agreement with Basin Electric Power Cooperative.

“The completion of Wild Springs marks a significant step in our commitment to bringing clean, sustainable energy solutions to the state of South Dakota,” says Blake Nixon, president of National Grid Renewables. “We’re excited to see the impact of this project reach local and state residents through additional tax revenue, charitable contributions, and above all else – clean energy solutions.”

“Basin Electric has been evaluating solar generation for many years,” adds Chris Baumgartner, Basin Electric’s senior vice president of member and external relations. “We are excited to add solar to our all-of-the-above generation portfolio, which includes dispatchable resources such as coal and natural gas and non-dispatchable resources such as wind and now solar. This diverse portfolio allows all these resources to work together to provide the maximum amount of reliability at the lowest-possible cost for our members.”

Wild Springs celebrated its groundbreaking with a “Solar Does Good” community event, which highlighted the many benefits for local and state communities. The project is anticipated to provide approximately $29.5 million in direct economic impact over the first 20 years of operations, including $12 million in new tax revenue over the same time period. Additionally, and unique to National Grid Renewables, Wild Springs plans to contribute $500,000 in charitable giving to the local New Underwood school district over the first 20 years of operations.