Scout Clean Energy, a Colorado-based renewable energy developer, owner, and operator of solar energy assets announced that it acquired the 369-megawatts Blue Sky Solar project in Grundy County, Illinois.
Firstly, the acquisition includes development plans and a call for installation. As a reminder, the project received unanimous approval for a Special Use Permit with Grundy County in December 2020. Back in 2018, RES began land acquisition and interconnection studies. The project should receive its full interconnection agreement in the third quarter of 2022.
Moreover, according to the statement, the Blue Sky facility will begin construction near Morris and reach commercial operations in 2024. Upon reaching commercial operations, Blue Sky will provide an estimated 585,000-megawatt-hours of carbon-free, renewable electricity to the PJM grid each year; enough to power over 67,000 Illinois homes.
In addition, as of now, the project has finalized the Property Tax Abatement Agreement in place; with all taxing jurisdictions in Grundy County. The project will provide around $36.3 million in tax revenue over its life to the state jurisdiction.
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Scout Clean Energy to invest further in the Blue Sky Solar project
John Rohde, CEO of RES in the Americas, said about the matter. “We are proud of our work in developing projects that focus on clean energy and a sustainable future. This deal and our partnership with Scout bring us closer to our vision of a future where everyone has access to affordable zero-carbon energy.”
On the other hand, Michael Rucker, CEO of Scout Clean Energy, said. “The Blue Sky project is one of the largest solar projects approved to date in the PJM and is the second Midwest solar project Scout has added to its expanding renewables portfolio this year.”
He also remarked. “Blue Sky is a uniquely located project enabling the supply of significant solar power to the Greater Chicago region. Blue Sky further diversifies our fleet across wind, solar and storage. Scout will close out 2021 with over 12,000 MWdc in our development pipeline and more than 1,200 MWdc of renewable projects in operation across the United States.”
Finally, he explained. “Scout expects to invest over $400 million to bring Blue Sky through construction and into operations; will support over twenty new jobs in the ongoing operations phase. The power generated from this project will enable Scout to bring the many benefits of low cost and carbon-free solar energy to central Illinois.”
