BY ROGER SMITH
MOUNTAIN CITIZEN
INEZ — Developers of the Lynn Bark Energy Center have filed an application seeking state approval for a transmission line that would connect a 200-megawatt merchant solar farm in Martin County to the regional electric grid.
Lynn Bark Energy Center LLC, a project developed by Savion, is seeking a certificate from the Kentucky State Board on Electric Generation and Transmission Siting to construct a 138-kilovolt nonregulated transmission line approximately 6.3 miles long. The line would connect the project’s on-site substation to the existing Inez Substation, owned by Kentucky Power Company and located on the former Martiki mountaintop removal mine site.
The application is pending before the Siting Board in Case No. 2026-00096. A public notice scheduled for publication June 17 states the proposed line would be located in an unincorporated area of Martin County and includes both a primary route and an alternate route.
The transmission line would serve the Lynn Bark Energy Center, a solar facility planned on approximately 1,514 acres of reclaimed mountaintop coal mine land about 6 miles south of Inez. The project is designed to generate up to 200 megawatts of electricity and will include approximately 357,588 photovoltaic solar panels, 51 inverters and an on-site substation transformer.
Savion filed its merchant plant application for the solar project with the Kentucky Siting Board in June 2024 under Case No. 2024-00104. The board granted a conditional construction certificate in November 2024 following a review process that included public hearings and testimony from local officials.
The transmission line represents a key component of the project, providing the connection necessary to move electricity generated by the solar facility onto the existing transmission system.
According to filings with the Siting Board, the solar farm is expected to begin commercial operation in March 2029.
The Siting Board has not yet announced a timetable for reviewing the transmission line application.