Committee approves Little Prairie Solar special-use request and decommissioning plan

The Champaign County Environment and Land Use Committee on Monday approved a special-use permit request and an accompanying decommissioning and site reclamation plan for the Little Prairie Solar project, a utility-scale photovoltaic (PV) solar farm and battery energy storage system in Sidney Township.

Petitioners from BayWa Renewable Energy presented the project as a 135-megawatt utility-scale PV development with an accessory battery energy storage system and said the facility would sit on approximately 1,047 acres with a fenced solar area of roughly 768 acres. David Holly, the company—s lead point of contact for the Little Prairie project, said the project began in 2022 and that the team has worked with landowners, school districts and the Sydney Fire District while pursuing state and county approvals. "This is an opportunity for Champaign County, we believe, to further their investment into renewable energy in the county," Holly said.

John Crosby, a BayWa project manager, asked the committee to approve both the special-use permit and the project's decommissioning plan, and told the committee the project is designed to comply with the Champaign County zoning ordinance and Illinois Pollution Control Board sound regulations. "Our goal here tonight is to respectfully request…