Site map of Mammoth Solar from Doral Renewables web site
Doral Renewables LLC on Thursday launched the second phase of its $1.5 billion Mammoth Solar farm in Francesville in rural outlying Northwest Indiana.
The Israel-based comapny, which has developed more than 400 energy facilities, commenced the Mammoth South project on 3,500 acres in Pulaski County.
“Today is another great day for the Region and for Indiana as we progress toward developing the largest solar farm project in the country,” Gov. Eric Holcomb said. “Clean energy projects like Mammoth Solar will be critical to our energy source portfolio and to powering leading industries like agbiosciences and the advanced manufacturing as we seek to grow and attract them both. We’ll do this as we simultaneously work to increase the quality of life and place in our neighborhoods and communities for years to come.”
It's the second step in a three-phase, 13,000-acre project spanning Starke and Pulaksi counties. Doral Renewables plans to bring 1.3 gigawatts of clean energy online and has already started construction on Mammoth North, which is expected to be operational by the end of the year.
“Indiana continues to make strides in transitioning to more sustainable, clean energy because of innovators and investors like Doral Renewables,” said Secretary of Commerce Brad Chambers. “This impressive solar farm project will help serve residential and commercial customers in northwest Indiana and across the Midwest region, fueling our next-gen industries that are building the economy of the future.”
Mammoth South is expected to be up and running by 2024. It will produce 300 megawatts of clean energy, enough to power thousands of households in Northwest Indiana and beyond.
A third phase is Mammoth Central, which is still being developed. Once built out, the solar farm is expected to the largest in the country.
The project is expected to conserve one billion gallons of irrigation well water per year and remove 40,000 tons of greenhouse gas emissions from the atmosphere.
“Solar farming is part of a wave of jobs and prosperity sweeping through rural America and every resident of the county will benefit," said Nick Cohen, president and CEO of Doral Renewables. "It will deliver $40 million to Pulaski County over 20 years. Property taxes will be reduced for landowners at time when other counties are raising taxes. Mammoth in Pulaski will contribute approximately $400 million in payroll to the local area workforce.”
The Indiana Economic Development Corp. offered more than $1.5 million in incentives, including tax breaks and infrastructure funding.
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