Melanie Lekocevic is reporting for Columbia-Greene Media the final environmental and financing details are being worked out and construction is expected to begin in the second half of 2022 on the Flint Mine Solar project in Coxsackie. “It has been approved by the state and it is now a matter of getting the details straightened out,” Town Supervisor Rick Hanse said. “It is in their ballpark.” The solar farm will be a 100-megawatt photovoltaic facility built by affiliates of Hudson Energy Development and Amber Infrastructure at the southern end of Coxsackie and the northern section of of Athens. The facility will generate approximately 175,000 megawatt hours of renewable solar energy, which will be converted into direct current electricity and delivered to the state electrical grid. The project was approved in August by the state Board of Electric Generation and the Environment, or the Siting Board. Patrick Doyle of Flint Mine Solar last week updated the Coxsackie Town Board about the project. He said the company is working on a net conservation benefit plan. A portion of the land where Flint Mine Solar will be sited is considered important habitat for raptors, so the company will set aside land for that purpose. “We are making a 300-acre raptor habitat, and we have to come up with a plan for how we are going to manage that,” Doyle said. With project details still being finalized, construction is not expected to start for at least another eight months. Doyle said, "“We got our approval, but we have to get our financing in place, we have to finalize our design, purchase the land and receive our final go-ahead from the Siting Board after we have met the conditions they set.” The project has been in process for nearly five years and the state’s Article 10 review process was launched in 2017. Read the full story at HudsonValley360 [dot] com.