United States – The utility-scale Blue Sky Solar project has been acquired by Scout Clean Energy from its original developer, RES (Renewable Energy Systems).
According to the approved development plans, a 369 MWdc solar facility will be built on 2,700 acres of land in Grundy County, Illinois.
In December 2020, Blue Sky received unanimous approval from Grundy County for a Special Use Permit under the existing Grundy County Solar Ordinance. In 2018, RES started land acquisition and interconnection studies on the site. In the third quarter of 2022, the project should receive its full interconnection agreement.
The Blue Sky facility will be built near Morris, Illinois, and is expected to open for business in 2024. Blue Sky will provide an estimated 585,000 megawatt hours of carbon-free, renewable electricity to the PJM grid each year once it reaches commercial operations, enough to power over 67,000 Illinois homes.
With all taxing jurisdictions in Grundy County, the project has a finalized and executed Property Tax Abatement Agreement. Over the course of the project, the county taxing jurisdictions are expected to receive $36.3 million in tax revenue, with $25.4 million going to the local school district alone.
Quinbrook Infrastructure Partners, a specialist global investment manager focused exclusively on renewables, storage, and grid support infrastructure, has Scout as a portfolio company.
