Drone image of the former boiler property captured in 2023 by Isaiah Golnick

When it comes to solar projects in Kewanee, the outlook is mixed.

One project that has been in the works for years could finally get under way this year.

But another one has been cancelled, due to environmental concerns about the site.

Sunpin Solar, a company based in Irvine, Calif., was been planning a solar array on the Lininger Industrial Park, just across the tracks on the Page Street blacktop.

The project has been under development for several years, and now should finally be nearing its start, according to Kathy Albert.

Albert is the executive director of the Kewanee Community Development Corp. (KEDC), which is leasing the industrial park to Sunpin.

Albert said Sunpin is “current on all its payments” on the lease. “They’ve invested a lot of money in this project,” she added.

A connection has been made from the Lininger property to an Ameren Illinois substation on West South Street.

Albert said Sunpin is waiting on a bid from one contractor before starting construction on the project.

The cancelled project would have been a solar installation on the former Kewanee Boiler property.

Drone image of the former Boiler property taken by Isaiah Golnick in 2023.

Taft Elliott of EnPower, an Alabama-based company, said this week that the project “is not going to go forward.”

The problem, Elliott said, is potential environmental issues on the site.

“There were a couple of environmental concerns that our investors couldn’t get past,” he said.

A report issued in December by the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency said some soil on the property is contaminated by industrial wastes from the manufacturing operations on the site. While the wastes don’t pose a threat to nearby residences, the report said, they would be a problem for any business that wants to locate there.

EnPower’s plans had called for a 17-acre solar array that would have covered about half of the Boiler site. The company had planned a cleanup of the property to make way for the solar array.

EnPower had not acquired the Boiler property, which is still locally owned.

Elliott said company officials had been excited about the Kewanee project and were sorry that it had to be cancelled.