Bowman lands $89M solar farm; to cover 1,000 acres

Tradewind Energy said it will build an $89 million solar production facility on approximately 1,000 acres south of the town of Bowman.

"The community has been very welcoming to solar energy, and we appreciate all the work of Orangeburg County and the State of South Carolina for helping create new opportunities for economic development through the Bowman Solar Project," Tradewind Energy Senior Development Manager Justin McGeeney said in a press release.

Projected to be online by early 2020, the solar farm will generate enough power for 15,000 homes.

The company has approximately 2,000 acres under lease from private property owners, but will only use a maximum of 1,000 acres for the solar farm.

Because of the large number of parcels under lease, county officials could not provide the exact location of the solar farm.

"We are committed to working with companies that provide reliable and increasingly cleaner sources of energy, and solar power is becoming a more important part of energy diversity," Orangeburg County Council Chairman Johnnie Wright Sr. said.

"We are grateful for the continued investment that Tradewind Energy contributes to our county,” he said.

No new permanent jobs will be created, although people will be employed to construct and maintain the solar farm.

Orangeburg County Council approved fee-in-lieu of taxes incentives for the project. The council also agreed to place the project in a joint industrial park with Dorchester County.

The joint county industrial park is a mechanism designed to provide an industry with additional incentives. There is no physical park.

The facility is expected to bring in tax revenue of $225,000 a year for 30 years.

"South Carolina is a place where companies of every kind can succeed and grow," Gov. Henry McMaster said. "The fact that Tradewind Energy has decided to invest $89 million and continues to call our great state home is an important signal to the world that South Carolina is open for business."

In February 2017, Tradewind announced plans to invest $84.5 million on a 500-acre solar farm.

That project will also have the capacity to provide power to 15,000 homes. It will be located on Bowman-Branch Highway on a site known to many locals as Weathers Farm.

Construction on the site was expected to begin in April.

Founded in 2003, Tradewind Energy develops wind and solar energy for markets.

To date, Tradewind has completed more than 3,000 megawatts of wind and solar power projects.

The company is actively developing more than 6 gigawatts of wind and 3 gigawatts of solar projects across the United States, totaling more than $5 billion in capital investment.