NEW CARLISLE, Ind. – Final approval has been granted for construction of a large solar farm in Indiana on land used for raising corn and soybeans.

The St. Joseph County Council on July 12 unanimously gave final approval to a revised agreement governing development of the planned 150-megawatt facility containing more than 407,000 solar panels. The agreement was tabled by the council the previous month to add language guaranteeing local union labor will used to build the solar farm on about 1,000 acres north of U.S. 20 outside New Carlisle in the northern part of the state.

St. Joseph County Economic Development Director Bill Schalliol said construction will begin once all the crops are harvested.in October or November. The work is scheduled to be completed late in 2023.

“We’re going to see a lot of dirt moving toward the end of the year and all of next year,” he said.

Lightsource BP, a leader in developing and operating solar farms worldwide, is behind the estimated $164 million development.

Schalliol said the revised agreement pushed for by organized labor requires 75 percent of workers constructing the solar farm be union members from St. Joseph and adjacent counties.

If there’s difficulty hiring enough local workers, contractors can expand their reach to fill gaps in the workforce. Lightsource BP is partnering in the hiring agreement with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 153, the Laborers International Union of North America and the Operating Engineers Local 150.

As many as 200 or more construction jobs are anticipated to be created from the project.

The Honeysuckle solar farm will produce enough electricity to power more than 20,000 households annually.

Schalliol said less than a half dozen employees will be needed to operate the solar farm on several adjacent parcels with different owners.

Owners will lease their property for an undisclosed fee from Lightsource BP under privately negotiated contracts for a period of 35 years. Schalliol said the land will revert back to farming if the land use agreement, based on the projected lifespan of the solar panels, is not extended.

He said the amount of taxes collected from the property will increase from about $80,000 annually to more than $2.5 million a year.

St. Joseph County Economic Development Specialist Chris Brown said the project is being partially funded with tax dollars captured from a tax increment financing (TIF) district. The TIF boundaries will encompass strictly the solar farm.

He said $64 million in tax revenue is projected to be generated over the lifespan of the agreement from increases in the assessed value of the property driven up by the development.

More than $27 million will be captured from the TIF and distributed to Olive Township government along with other taxing units such as the New Prairie School Corporation and public libraries. The balance of the TIF funds will go to Lightsource BP to help offset its investment in the project. Payments will be made annually.

“Whatever is remaining is basically sent back to the company as the incentive to keep their cost at a level where they’re still able to make the project viable from a financial standpoint,” Brown said.

Other requirements in the agreement include pollinator-friendly seed mixes and native plants to be used as ground cover around the facility.

The solar farm would be the company’s second one in the state. It’s currently building a slightly larger Bellflower solar farm expected to be completed later this year about 40 miles east of Indianapolis.