Cincinnati’s 100-megawatt solar array in is now fully online, three years after construction began.
The 900-acre solar farm in Highland County is about 40 miles east of the city. City officials have said it's the largest municipal solar project in the country.
Director of Environment and Sustainability Ollie Kroner says the project went under contract shortly before the pandemic.
"You can imagine some of the delays," Kroner told WVXU. "Severe supply chain challenges — we had panels sitting in customs for close to a year awaiting clearance before they could be delivered here to Ohio. When a project experiences that type of delays, then there become contractual issues to negotiate. So it was a long row, but we got here."
The array has been coming online in sections, with the first section coming online in March 2022. The electricity generated is powering city government buildings. As of May 1, the power also goes to resident homes through the Energy Aggregation Program, which allows the city to negotiate utility prices on behalf of citizens and small businesses.