The Warren County Commissioners met with representatives from Invenergy, the developer for the Split-Rail solar project, on June 12 to hear an update on their progress.
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The Warren County Commissioners met with representatives from Invenergy, the developer for the Split-Rail solar project, on June 12 to hear an update on their progress.
The project covers roughly 4,000 acres on 30 interconnected properties around Routes A and W in Warren County. The project is expected to be completed by the summer 2026 and will produce roughly 300 megawatts of power, according to previous Record reporting.
Site Manager Luke Williams provided the commissioners with a construction update and said they are making progress on the site.
He said over the last month, they completed the installation of all the piles for the development. The piles are the structural support system for the modules, or solar panels. He said they are roughly 70% through installing the racking for the modules, which is used to attach the panels.
He also said they are roughly halfway through installing all the necessary wiring for the panels on the development although noted their work on underground wiring was stalled due to weather.
They have also had several significant deliveries for the project in recent weeks including the control house for the substation on June 3 and the delivery of the two transformers for the development in the last week.
The delivery of the two transformers required cooperation between local authorities as well as the Missouri State Highway Patrol due to their size and the constraints of moving them.
Williams also said they are conducting high voltage testing on their underground cables and have installed roughly 40% of the fencing required for the project.
“They’ve got almost all the posts in, and they’re working north to south on the project as far as installing the mesh and all of that,” said Williams.
The fencing and mesh installation is part of the development’s requirements to screen their development from adjacent and participating landowners. They will also plant vegetative screening around their panels as well as pollinating plants inside the development.
Southern District Commissioner Dave Mikus asked where the development was on planting the required screening and pollinators.
“We have not (started) just due to the amount of construction that was still happening on the fence and things of that nature,” said Williams. “We pushed the pollinators to the fall, so starting then we’ll do pollinators and the trees all in the fall.”
Williams said they had communicated with landowners that they would be able to farm areas where vegetative screening would be planted this summer since they pushed their schedule back.
The commissioners also had questions about the structure of the agreements Invenergy had with participating landowners since some landowners with the other solar project in the county, Bluebird Solar, had expressed some confusion.
The Bluebird Solar Development is being built by D.E. Shaw Renewable Investments and is also located around Routes A and W. That development covers roughly 1,800 acres and is expected to produce roughly 139 megawatts of power upon completion.
Jordan Kari, with Invenergy, outlined how their agreements are structured with different payment schedules for different types of land use.
He said landowners receive the highest rate for any development above ground, including panels, ancillary equipment and the land used for vegetative screening.
He also said landowners receive a separate rate for “undeveloped acreage,” or land the developer planned to use but that will not include above ground developments. Michelle Paven, with Invenergy, said some landowners opt to exclude that portion of land from their leases in order to farm it instead.
“Some people prefer not to, and so then, if it’s larger portions of ground that they can access and farm, it is common that that’s terminated so that they can just go back to farm,” said Paven.
Kari also said they are in active communication with their landowners and that payments to landowners are scheduled to begin within 60 days of commercial operation.
Paven also made it clear that Invenergy has no involvement with a proposed transmission line in Warren County for a potential datacenter in Warrenton. That transmission line would intersect with some properties in the solar development and Paven stressed that Invenergy is not a stakeholder in that project.
