The Chicago company given the inside track to build a massive solar installation on the Hanford nuclear reservation in southeast Washington also will propose a solar project on nearby private rangeland.

Hecate Energy was already laying the groundwork for a 100-megawatt solar plant in Benton County when the Energy Department solicited proposals last year to develop a renewable energy project at Hanford.

The department last week picked Hecate over 10 other applicants. The government will negotiate with Hecate to lease some 8,000 acres for a solar plant that would be among the largest in the U.S.

Hecate director of development Alex Pugh said Monday the company also plans to soon apply to the Energy Facility Site Evaluation Council to build the smaller Benton Solar plant outside the nuclear reservation.

Benton Solar would be the fifth renewable energy project pending in front of EFSEC proposed for farmland in Benton County. The county opposes new solar and wind developments on land zoned for agriculture.

Hecate hopes to design a project that would allow sheep to continue to graze, Pugh said. “We’re hoping that with dual use the county will be a little more supportive,” he said.

“Our plan is to work with the rancher to at least experiment with sheep grazing under the panels,” Pugh said. “We have to start figuring some of this out.”

The U.S. established the Hanford site in 1943 to produce plutonium. The last reactor closed in 1987. Plutonium production left behind contaminated buildings and soil.

A solar project will advance clean-up efforts and a Biden administration initiative to lease federal land formerly used for nuclear weapon development for renewable energy, according to the Energy Department.

The department announced in June it will negotiate with two companies, NorthRenew Energy Partners and Spitfire, to install solar panels and batteries at the Idaho National Laboratory in Idaho Falls.

At Hanford, the department envisions a solar project with a maximum output of 1-gigawatt, exceeding the combined output of all current solar installations in Washington.

The Edwards Sanborn solar installation, reputed to be the largest in the U.S., in the Mojave Desert in California has a capacity of 875 megawatts.

The Hanford project has yet to be designed. The maximum output could exceed 1-gigawatt, though the project would probably produce less electricity than a solar installation in Southern California, Pugh said.

Hecate was attracted to Benton County because it’s flat and close to transmission lines, he said. Hecate also anticipates the region will need electricity for industrial growth, he said.

“Our sense is there is a lot of potential growth for things like data centers,” Pugh said.

Hecate manages more than 20 power projects operating or nearing operation in the U.S., according to the company’s website.

The company lists many other projects under development, including a proposed 600-megawatt solar plant in Bannock County, Idaho. County commissioners in May voted to prohibit new solar and wind projects, the Idaho State Journal reported.

Hecate takes its name from a goddess in Greek mythology. The company describes Hecate’s domain as including the earth, sea and sky.