Lightsource bp’s Honeysuckle Solar project in St. Joseph County is operational and generating 188 megawatts of energy.
“With our project partners, we are supporting the rapidly growing U.S. solar manufacturing sector, local unions and investing in rural America,” said Emilie Wangerman, Lightsource bp USA COO, in a press release. “Honeysuckle Solar showcases these and other quantifiable benefits Americans are deriving from the Inflation Reduction Act.”
San Francisco-based Lightsource bp and Google have signed a power purchase agreement for the electricity from Honeysuckle Solar. Google is expanding its Midwest presence with a $2 billion data center campus in Fort Wayne.
“We have an ambitious goal to operate every Google campus on clean electricity every hour of every day by 2030, which will include our Fort Wayne data center once it comes online,” Amanda Peterson Corio, Google’s global head of data center energy, said. “We look forward to working with Lightsource bp to support our Indiana operations with clean energy and drive continued economic impact in the state.”
Honeysuckle Solar is located about 10 miles west of South Bend. South Bend-based Inovateus Solar LLC was the construction contractor for the facility. Inovateus Solar prioritized using local labor for the mechanical, electrical and civil work on site. 85% of the 200 direct construction workforce was local labor.
The project supported U.S. manufacturers. First Solar manufactured the solar panels, Array Tehcnologies produced the smart solar trackers and Nucor provided the steel.
“Over the last couple of years, the desire by companies to have access to renewable energy is a must as the companies consider investing in the Region,” Bill Schalliol, executive director of economic development for St. Joseph County, said.
Having a project like Honeysuckle Solar near their development site is a huge win and a major attraction, Schalliol said. According to Schalliol, St. Joseph County had over $14 billion of new project investment in 2024.
“Access to a project like Honeysuckle that is generating local clean energy onto our grid is a major factor in that investment,” Schalliol said.
