Three years after breaking ground on a 12,000-acre solar farm in northwest Indiana, Doral Renewables LLC, the U.S. partner of Israeli-based developer Doral Group, announced the first of three phases is up and running in Starke County.
The estimated $2-billion total Mammoth Solar project is the latest in surging economic development for Indiana, bringing with it as one of the largest solar farms in the country upon completion, the ability to power 250,000 homes and pump millions of dollars into the state’s communities every year.
Kevin Parzyck, senior vice president of development for Doral Renewables, said the area in Starke and Pulaski counties was selected based on the results of the company’s comprehensive “greenfielding” process. Factors considered include land availability, transmission capacity, and ordinance compliance.
“We also spent a lot of time in the early work, talking to landowners. A lot of it was building those relationships and identifying what sections of land would work the best,” said Parzyck. “We did our background studies, and it made a lot of sense to us that this area was the best place for the project.”
Overcoming Setbacks
Development for the first phase, known as the project’s North site, began in November 2021 and was expected to be completed by mid-2023. However, Mammoth’s 400-megawatt energy-producing phase one didn’t become operational until late 2024.
Parzyck said with a project of this scope, there have been several factors that delayed construction. He said planning the project across both Starke and Pulaski counties presented some differences in execution in terms of obtaining permits, navigating agreements and other pre-construction matters. He said there were delays with interconnection with PJM, the grid operator, as well as post-pandemic supply chain issues.
“Even things like weather interfered. We were ready to connect to the grid much earlier in 2024, but the day before we were supposed to connect, there was a huge thunderstorm, and it took down the transmission line. That precluded us from being able to take down our transmission line to connect,” he said. “So, you are always playing with all of these forces, but you motor through it. We did just that and now we are operational in Starke County.”
On the Horizon
The initial delays with the project pushed back the start of phases two and three of the solar project, which will produce an additional 900 megawatts of clean energy at sites in Pulaski County when operational. Parzyck said work on those phases, which will be the project’s Central and South sites, is expected to begin in early 2025. He said projects of this magnitude take time to ensure the end result is as efficient as possible.
“This is a big project, and we have taken the first steps. It’s very exciting that we have our first connection in Starke, and we are selling that power on the grid,” he said. “In Pulaski County, we have been doing site preparation work over the past year and have made significant equipment purchases. We are excited that the work there will become more robust very soon.”
Parzyck said over the next year, the company will also continue a focus on green sustainable practices with the project projecting to remove 40,000 tons of greenhouse gas emissions and water conservation efforts. Additionally, he said the company has been proactive in working with area farmers in an effort to efficiently share the land between solar energy production and farming.
In a position that places emphasis on supporting the community both economically and agriculturally, Parzyck said the company is integrating more farming methodologies in and around the solar panels at the farm. With equipment mounted above the ground, the space allows for crop production and animal vegetation management in the area. The company is also working with Purdue University to develop new agricultural methods in and around solar panels, he noted.
“We can already see the benefits of our partnerships with farmers in Starke. It shows how we can benefit each other and how it is not someone coming in and taking over land and making it something else,” Parzyck said. “We are incredibly involved in community and land conservation. That is very important to us.”
