The $2.6-billion wind and solar energy project set for more than 1,600 acres in Kankakee and Livingston counties is set to begin in June.

Heritage Prairie Renewable, the expansive solar and wind project in western Kankakee County and part of Livingston County, will start taking shape later this summer and in the spring of 2027.

The Heritage Prairie Renewable project was approved by the Kankakee County Board in 2022. It’s a joint venture of Pattern Energy and Repsol Renewables North America, which has its headquarters in San Francisco, with an operations center in Houston.

The Heritage Prairie Wind project will be located in western Kankakee County and northeastern Livingston County. Within Livingston County, the project will be located in Dwight, Round Grove, and Broughton townships, according to the company’s website.

Heritage Prairie Wind is a 616.5 megawatt wind generation facility that will provide electricity to the needs of about 180,000 homes.

“Heritage Prairie Wind is on schedule,” said Patrick Gehl, public engagement manager with Pattern Energy, in an email. “Construction is targeted to begin in June, with commercial operations beginning in 2028.”

Delbert Skimmerhorn, director of planning for Kankakee County, said almost everything is in place, including road use agreements and a decommissioning bond. Skimmerhorn said Pattern Energy has paid the stormwater permit fee of $52,000, and the county is waiting on the building permit fee of $1.85 million. Those fees go into the county’s general fund.

“I expect that sometime next week,” Skimmerhorn said of the building permit fee.

Heritage Prairie Wind is a $2.1 billion investment, and the project is expected to provide $175 million in new tax revenues to Kankakee and Livingston counties over the life of the project – 30 to 40 years. According to Pattern Energy’s website, more than 330 construction jobs will be used during the building of the project and 12 to 16 full-time jobs to operate and maintain the facility.

The construction on the wind farm takes 12 to 18 months, and the facility is targeted to be operational in 2028.

Heritage Prairie Solar is a $500 million project, and the 300-megawatt solar farm’s footprint will take up 1,600 acres of the total farmland in Kankakee County east of Essex. Construction is expected to start later this year.

“The Heritage Prairie Solar project remains in development, with construction site preparation anticipated to begin in 2026 and commercial operation targeted for 2028,” Gehl said.

It’s estimated to provide more than 150 full-time local construction jobs. After construction, two full-time employees will be dedicated to the solar farm for the 30- to 35-year life of the project.

Over the life of the solar project, more than $44 million in property tax revenue will be generated to the taxing jurisdictions within its large footprint and about $23 million in property taxes to Herscher and Reed-Custer school districts, the company said.