US developer Invenergy begins construction of the 240 MW Pleasant Prairie Solar Energy Centre in Ohio, awarding EPC work to Blattner for an investment nearing $230 million.

US renewables developer Invenergy has started construction of a 240 MW photovoltaic plant in Franklin County, Ohio. Named the Pleasant Prairie Solar Energy Centre, the project is expected to generate up to 300 jobs during its development phase. Construction will continue through early 2027, with commercial operations slated to begin shortly thereafter.

Blattner awarded the EPC contract

Invenergy, headquartered in Illinois, has selected Blattner to handle engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) for the Pleasant Prairie Solar project. Over the lifetime of the facility, total investment is expected to reach around $230 million for Franklin County. The plant will be powered by US-made solar panels supplied by Illuminate USA, an Invenergy subsidiary. Elsewhere in the solar sector, developers are also advancing on the financing front, as illustrated by Hindustan Power, which closed financing for a 435 MWp solar project in India, while India's CERC now allows delayed solar and wind developers to pay for grid access.

These same panels are also used in other Invenergy projects across Ohio, including the recently operational 250 MW Hardin III Solar and the under-construction 240 MW Cadence Solar, which is forecast to begin operations in 2026. According to Mick Baird, chief development officer at Invenergy, the Pleasant Prairie project is a partnership between the company, local landowners, Franklin County, the Pleasant and Prairie Townships, Illuminate USA and Blattner, aimed at meeting rising energy demand with domestically produced power.

A 1 GW solar portfolio in Ohio

Pleasant Prairie Solar is part of Invenergy's expanding solar portfolio in Ohio, where the company now holds 1 GW of capacity across three operational plants and one under construction. Electricity generated by Hardin III, along with the associated renewable energy credits, is sold to Microsoft under a power purchase agreement (PPA). This follows the earlier commissioning of the Hardin I and II projects, totaling 150 MW, which began operations earlier this year in the same county and supply power to Meta under a separate PPA.

The Illuminate USA joint venture with LONGi

In 2023, Invenergy partnered with Chinese solar module manufacturer LONGi to build a 5 GW solar module assembly plant in Pataskala, Ohio, under a joint venture named Illuminate USA. Invenergy committed more than $600 million to the project, including $220 million for a 1.1 million square-foot facility. This marked LONGi's first manufacturing investment in the United States.

According to data from the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA), Ohio's total installed solar capacity stands at 5.6 GW, with 2.4 GW added in 2024 alone. Over the next five years, the state is projected to grow by an additional 8.9 GW, ranking it 9th nationally for solar growth potential.