photo by: Savion

This map shows the proposed project area for Kansas City-based Savion's "Kansas Sky Energy Center," a 1,000 acre solar energy project the company wants to be located just north of Lawrence.

Savion, a Kansas City-based energy company, is proposing a 1,000-acre solar energy facility just north of Lawrence, the Journal-World learned Tuesday afternoon.

A website for the project, dubbed the “Kansas Sky Energy Center,” notes that the company has secured 1,103 acres for the project about a mile north of the city. The website says the project’s design calls for 828 acres of the project to be located inside a fence, and less than 734 acres to be covered by solar equipment.

The Douglas County Commission is ultimately the body that must grant final approval for a project like this, but it also has to pass through the Lawrence-Douglas County Planning and Development Services Office first. Planning Manager Becky Pepper told the Journal-World on Tuesday that the Planning and Development Services Office hadn’t received any applications for the project yet.

According to the project’s website, the project would connect to Evergy’s 115-kilovolt Midland Substation, located on-site. Savion is the developer for the project, with a proposal for Evergy to build, own and operate the energy facility subject to regulatory approval.

Savion is hosting a public meeting about the project on Thursday from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m. on the second floor of Sunflower Cafe, 804 Massachusetts St. According to Johnna Guinty, Savion’s vice president of marketing and public relations, this will be the first official public meeting about the project.