The Split-Rail solar farm project is in its testing phase, as work nears completion on the Invernegy development.

Representatives from Invenergy said they are still on course to go live prior to July 1, with the hope that the project will go live sometime in May, during the Warren County Commission meeting Jan. 15.

Invenergy Site Manager Luke Williams said in the next month commissioners would be able to see rotation in the solar modules as the last steps are completed on the project. Williams said the project is down to 45 employees on the site with a draw-down of employees scheduled over the next few months.

During the discussion, Presiding Commissioner Joe Gildehaus discussed with Williams and Invenergy representative Jordan Kari whether or not the company had surveillance cameras on the project as a safety measure. Williams said they do have motion-sensor cameras at the entrance to the project, at the substation and a building at the site, which link back to Ameren and the company’s office in Chicago. Gildehaus suggested possibly providing camera links to the sheriff’s department, as an additional safety measure referencing damage done in other communities to inverters. Williams said the company’s primary concern is at the front gate, noting that the solar inverters do not have cameras generally directed towards them.

Kari discussed the Chapter 100 abatement agreements with the county.

At the commission’s Dec. 11 meeting, Invenergy Senior Associate for Renewable Development Quinn Gorman told the commissioners that under the Chapter 100 agreement between Invenergy and the county one of the issues that still needs to be addressed is the ground lease. At that meeting, Gorman said there are a number of parcels in the project which will ultimately not be used for the project. He said the landowners of the parcels are aware and want the land released back to them for farming purposes. Gorman said Invenergy will be doing full parcel releases shortly, which will change the legal description of the ground lease agreement with the county.

During the Jan. 15 meeting Kari discussed having the commissioners sign a letter stating that they would make such modifications, and also modifying the project completion date from Dec. 31, 2025 to the actual completion of the project scheduled for May or early June.