Chicago Construction News staff writer
Invenergy has broken ground on its new Center of Excellence, a $30 million clean energy training and manufacturing facility in Bolingbrook, about 30 miles outside Chicago.
The new facility will span 135,000 sq. ft. and is expected to open in the fourth quarter of 2024 following the buildout of the existing site which will employ more than 250 local construction workers.
“The Center of Excellence is Invenergy’s latest investment in the workforce of the future and reinforces our leadership in meeting the growing demand for clean energy,” Steve Dowdy, executive vice-president and operating business leader at Invenergy, said in a statement. “As we collectively meet today’s rapidly expanding energy needs, this state-of-the-art training and equipment refurbishment facility continues our commitment to the region, elevating Chicagoland, Illinois and the US as the tip of the spear for energy infrastructure investment and innovation.”
The CoE will have four main components:
- 35,000 sq. ft. machine shop designed to refurbish and assemble key clean energy components
- 30,000 sq. ft. central warehouse to manage and store infrastructure including long-lead wind turbine and solar components
- 35,000 sq. ft. training center and learning lab with the capacity to support over 1,300 clean energy trainees annually
- 20,000 sq. ft. Generation Control Center (GCC) to monitor and control Invenergy’s energy generation assets
“The Center of Excellence is a welcome investment, creating jobs and providing hands-on training to support a workforce of the future,” said Will County Executive Jennifer Bertino-Tarrant. “This project will drive local innovation and progress, building upon Will County’s leadership in the clean energy economy.”
Invenergy’s has a 20-year history of Illinois, which includes the current expansion of its Chicago’s headquarters and the new Chicagoland Climate Investment Alliance.
