HERMISTON — Umatilla County could get a new solar power generating site on exclusive farm use land near Hermiston and Stanfield.

EE West End Solar LLC, a subsidiary of Eurus Solar Holdings LLC, is looking to build a 50-99 megawatt solar power generating facility, including a 70 megawatt lithium ion energy storage system, on 324 acres approximately 1 mile east of Hermiston and 1 mile north of Stanfield.

The Energy Facility Siting Council was scheduled to hold a public hearing Friday, Dec. 16, to consider a site certificate to allow the design, construction and operation of the project, plus its eventual retirement.

According to the draft of the Energy Facility Siting Council’s proposal to grant the on certificate, the Oregon Department of Energy on Dec. 4, 2020, received a request for an expedited review for the West End Solar Project. After a review, the department on Dec. 17, 2020, granted the request.

In addition to the solar panels and the battery storage system, the project includes a 15-acre collector and switch yard substation, 15 miles of underground 34.5 kilovolt collector line, a driveway and internal access roads, and approximately 3 miles of perimeter fence.

The agenda for the facility siting council meeting also included consideration of a request to transfer ownership of the Stateline Wind Project in northern Umatilla County near the Washington border. Florida Power & Light, a division of NextEra Energy Resources LLC, owns and operates Stateline, which consists of separate geographic units: Stateline 1 & 2 and Vansycle II.