KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Officials in Kansas City, Missouri, are looking to take the next steps next week in a plan to make one of the nation’s largest solar photovoltaic projects a reality.
In August 2023, city officials gave the green light to a group of companies — dubbed the 816 Consortium— who is behind the effort to build the solar photovoltaic project on roughly 2,000 acres of land adjacent to Kansas City International Airport.
A solar farm at KCI has been on the radar of city officials since at least the fall of 2021.
At full build-out, the project could provide up to 500 megawatts of electricity — enough power for up to 70,000 residential customers.
In a memo, city staff outlined a timeline for the project, with construction set to begin within 12 months of final approvals, or toward the end of 2026/early 2027.
The city hopes the consortium will have some sort of demonstration project and something visible from airplane travelers before the World Cup by May 1, 2026.
The 816 Consortium is made up of Evergy, Burns & McDonnell, Herzog, an area transportation contractor, and Savion, a solar and battery storage developer.
An ordinance for debate next week in the council’s Finance, Governance and Public Safety Committee would authorize city officials to enter into a “pre-development” agreement with Evergy.
Under the pre-development agreement, Evergy would "finance and coordinate the project’s design, construction and operational activities."
The utility would work with the city for any “necessary incentives” and “minimize energy rate impacts.”
Evergy would also be tasked with conducting environmental and site assessments, permitting applications and documenting regulatory compliance. Evergy would work with grid interconnections with the Southwest Power Pool, a regional transmission operator that helps move power from where it’s generated to where it is needed throughout a several-state territory in the Midwest.
City officials say the project would help meet the city’s goal to be carbon neutral by 2030.
Earlier this fall, Evergy announced plans to build two, natural gas-powered plants in south-central Kansas that would add a total of 1,400 megawatts to the grid.
The increase in capacity comes as utilities simultaneously work to scale back carbon emissions, increase renewable energy sources, while also meeting increased demand from energy-intensive data centers.
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