ROCK SPRINGS, Wyo. (AP) — County commissioners in southwest Wyoming have granted a conditional-use permit to build the first major commercial solar energy project in the state.

The Sweetwater County Commission voted Tuesday to allow Sweetwater Solar LLC to move forward with the 80-megawatt solar farm, which will generate enough electricity for 12,000 homes.

The project area of solar panels, roads, power lines and other facilities would encompass about a square mile of public land. Sweetwater Solar is a subsidiary of the large South Korean conglomerate Hanwha Group.

Other solar installations in Wyoming feed electricity onto the grid, but none is close to this big.

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