It’s Round 2 for Korsail Energy and its massive solar and battery storage project that would be situated on 986 acres and within a migratory range of sensitive wildlife areas in west Alamosa County. 

Korsail and its “Cornflower Solar” project found rejection at the Alamosa County commissioner level when it first filed for a 1041 permit to build its proposed 90MWac solar system and 80MW battery energy storage system. That was in July 2024 when the project ran into a buzzsaw of opposition from state and federal wildlife officials concerned with the project’s proximity to the Monte Vista Wildlife Refuge and Rock Creek and the Playa Blanca State Wildlife Area.

In its new application, Korsail said it has expanded the amount of acreage it is leasing for the project and redesigned the project area to address wildlife and environmental concerns. Commissioner Arlan Van Ry supported the first application, with Commissioners Lori Laske and Vern Heersink voting it down.

The three commissioners will hold a public hearing on the new 1041 permit application this Wednesday, April 9, as part of its regularly scheduled meeting. A 1041 permit is required for projects that are considered “major” in scope, which certainly defines the Cornflower Solar project and its plan to deliver solar to the Xcel Energy power system.

The Denver-based company has been developing solar and storage projects in southeast Colorado around Las Animas and La Junta. In 2022 Korsail Energy secured an undisclosed amount of money from SolRiver Capital investment fund to help it complete 2GW of solar and storage projects.

Here’s much power 1 Gigawatt generates.

The Cornflower project site is between County Rd 3 South and County Road 5 South about 4 miles west of Alamosa. Landowners who have leasing agreements with Korsail are welcoming the project. Other landowners who live nearby the project site on the county roads are less enthusiastic. Both sides showed up at the Alamosa County Commissioners meeting in March when the commissioners ruled that Korsail Energy would have to bring a permanent water supply onto the site to handle any fire that may arise.

If approved, the solar energy developed would connect into an Xcel Energy 115 kV transmission line and feed into the Colorado power grid. Constructing the renewable energy system over a two-year period, including the battery storage project, would generate around 300 temporary jobs, according to the proposal.

Here are the full details in the Cornflower Solar project application to Alamosa County. The county commissioners meetings begin at 8:30 a.m.