Hays-based non-profit Sunflower Electric announced at the end of February that it will purchase energy from the Johnson Corner Solar Project when it opens in 2019.
As the Hays Daily News Reports, the 240-acre solar facility in Stanton county will likely be Kansas’s largest solar plant and will produce around 55,000-megawatt hours, annually. That’s around 1% of the total energy that Sunflower Electric and its sister company Mid-Kansas Electric produce.
Sunflower selected the Southwest Kansas location because of its overall power-generating potential but also to generate electricity near where it’s needed on the grid, which will reduce the load on an existing transmission line that’s near full capacity.
Sunflower says solar has the advantage of producing most energy during the summer when Sunflower sees peak energy demands. Solar power will also help diversify Sunflower’s portfolio and hedge against market changes that could occur with other energy sources.
