In early 2020, Flint Hills Resources decided to improve its energy efficiency by building a $75 million solar farm at its Pine Bend refinery in Rosemount, Minnesota. The company turned to Barr for early strategic consulting on how to best navigate key environmental and social considerations such as land use and zoning; threatened and endangered species; wetlands impacts; construction stormwater management; and restoration planning. We also completed wetland delineations, led protected-species surveys, and developed the state Environmental Assessment Worksheet.
In addition, Barr completed a geotechnical investigation and site evaluation for the project. This included collecting and analyzing soil borings and soil samples for general laboratory testing, standard penetration testing, field electrical-resistivity testing, and thermal resistivity testing. We also performed pile-load testing to evaluate the performance of shallow-driven pile foundations that would support the solar panels, including axial tension, axial compression, and lateral load testing, at nine locations selected by FHR. We provided design recommendations for the solar panel foundations based on our results, and in addition to our geotechnical investigation, we performed infiltration testing to assist with stormwater basin design.
The solar project has been delivering power to the refinery since 2023.
