Elkhart County receives multi-million dollar proposal for 850-acre solar farm

ELKHART COUNTY, Ind. (WNDU) - Elkhart County is the chosen site for a planned $120-millon solar farm.

Kansas City-based renewable energy company Savion would create 150 jobs during construction and provide a $15 million boost to the property tax base over the facility’s 30-year life span.

The site is about seven miles southeast of Goshen in Benton Township.

It was chosen because of its proximity to large transmission lines that have available capacity.

“We also found landowners who were willing to participate in the project and you know having willing landowners is very important for the project as a whole,” Project Director Sara Mills said during a community outreach session last week.

The company plans to apply in June for a zoning change needed to advance the project. Savion will seek approval of a long term, albeit temporary planned unit development from Elkhart County leaders.

“It’s also a form of development that can maintain the rural character of the area. As You know, the area that we are in is farmland. Benton Township has a lot of farmland and the solar project at the end of its life gets entirely taken out of the ground,” said Mills. “As you saw, a lot of posts drilled into the ground that can then be removed and then the landowner can put the land back to whatever use it is that he or she desires, which includes potentially agriculture.”

The 100-megawatt facility would generate enough electricity to power nearly 19,000 homes.

Plans call for it to be operational in 2023.

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