VILLENOVA — A large solar project in Balcom Corners has officially been shelved.

On July 14, 2021, a public presentation took place at the Villenova Town Board meeting where Northland Power proposed a 20-megawatt solar project on more than 200 acres between Route 322 and Mile Strip Road. The project was proposed to be a $35 million to $40 million investment.

At that time, the company said it wanted to start the project in late 2022 or early 2023, with a goal to be finished by the end of 2023.

Most solar projects in Chautauqua County are proposed to be 5 megawatts or smaller. Occasionally, developers have proposed a 10 megawatt solar project and divided them up into two halves to create two 5 megawatt projects. That has been in the case in Stockton and Busti.

Generally, solar projects larger than 5 megawatts require state approval, instead of just local and county approval. That is the case for the large 270-megawatt solar project proposed in Ripley.

Mark Geise, Chautauqua County Industrial Development Agency chief executive officer, said in September 2022 that the IDA was going to be “pumping the brakes” on new solar projects, but were willing to work with companies that had started the process.

The Post-Journal/OBSERVER has reached out to Northland Power multiple times over the last two years to see if they had any update on the 20-megawatt solar project, with each time company officials saying there was nothing new to report.

On Monday, an email was sent out again to the company. Annie McQuillan with Northland Power responded, stating, “This project will not be moving forward.” She did not elaborate.

Northland Power is also the company behind the Ball Hill Wind turbine project. On the company’s Facebook page, it posted that the last turbine component delivery was scheduled to occur June 26. Their goal was to complete all turbine erections by last weekend.

The company had to replace the bases of the wind turbines this spring after they were found to be faulty.

Some local residents, including Susan Baldwin, have said they have filed a class action lawsuit against the company, stating that their wells have been ruined by Northland Power when it used dynamite blasting to remove the old bases.