Accelerating Solar + Storage Siting in Indiana

Identify grid-ready, commercially viable hybrid development locations faster.

Solar and storage development is increasingly constrained by interconnection congestion, land scarcity and heightened capital constraints, making early, confident siting decisions critical. This case study demonstrates how Enverus PRISM enables developers to identify and prioritize high-quality hybrid opportunities by unifying interconnection capacity, land viability, pricing fundamentals and competitive pressure into a single, analytics-driven workflow. Using Indiana as a representative market, this analysis demonstrates how developers can move faster and with greater certainty. It surfaces sites that enable near-term generation, long-term storage value and scalable hybrid designs, while reducing development risk and concentrating capital on projects with the highest likelihood of interconnection success and returns. 

Solar Hero Image
Executive Summary
Challenge
Market Opportunity
Selection Criteria & Method 
Project 1: Lawrence County, Indiana
Project 2: Cass County, Indiana
Project 3: Hamilton County, IN
Side-by-side Comparison
Recommendation
Speak to an Expert

Executive Summary

This case study demonstrates how Enverus PRISM identifies and prioritizes high-quality solar + storage siting opportunities in Indiana by integrating interconnection intelligence, land viability, pricing fundamentals, and competitive dynamics into a single workflow. Across three evaluated locations, PRISM reveals meaningful differences in hybrid development potential—ranging from balanced generation and storage flexibility to storage-heavy configurations driven by grid constraints. Among the sites analyzed, Lawrence County emerges as the strongest overall opportunity, offering exceptional interconnection headroom, minimal queue competition and substantial buildable acreage suitable for large-scale co-located projects. 

Sites were evaluated using Enverus PRISM across the following criteria: 

  • Substation proximity and voltage 
  • Historical and planning-case injection capacity 
  • Historical and planning-case withdrawal capacity 
  • Parcel-level land availability and buildability 
  • Historical and forward-looking LMP trends 
  • Existing and planned competitive capacity

By replacing fragmented data sources and manual screening with an analytics-driven approach, Enverus PRISM enables developers to reduce siting risk, prioritize capital efficiently, and advance projects with greater confidence earlier in the development lifecycle. 

Challenge

Developers seeking to build utility-scale solar + storage projects in Indiana face a familiar challenge: identifying sites with strong interconnection potential, sufficient land availability, and long-term economic value. The goal of this analysis is to pinpoint high-quality hybrid development zones using Enverus PRISM’s advanced siting intelligence.

Market Opportunity

Indiana is a highvalue region for solar + storage development. Utilities across the state have outlined aggressive renewable and storage additions in recent Integrated Resource Plans, signaling sustained procurement needs. At the same time, the state is preparing for significant load growth from data centers, manufacturing expansions, and other power intensive industries. For example, Duke Energy Indiana has over 5,000 MWs of planned load capacity. 

This convergence of renewable expansion, storage integration, and demand acceleration positions Indiana as a prime market for developers who can move quickly and secure viable interconnection points. PRISM enables that speed by reducing months of manual screening to minutes. 

Selection Criteria & Method

Enverus PRISM was used to evaluate and rank potential hybrid development zones based on: 

  • Substation proximity  
  • Historical injection and withdrawal capacity 
  • Planning case injection and withdrawal capacity 
  • Parcel availability and buildability 
  • Historical and forecasted pricing trends 
  • Competitive pressure 

This approach provides a comprehensive view of both solar generation potential and storage value, enabling developers to identify sites that support flexible, dispatchable hybrid assets. 

Project 1 – Lawrence County, Indiana

Attribute
Value
County
Lawrence
ISO
MISO
Nearest Substation
Mitchell Lost River
Bus Voltage (kV)
345 kV
Avg. Available Injection (MW), Past 1 Year
1,209 MW
Avg. Available Withdrawal (MW), Past 1 Year
1,011 MW
Max Injection Capability, Summer 2029
1,277 MW
Max Withdrawal Capability, Summer 2029
1,157 MW
Planned Power Capacity
0 MW
Adjacent Acreage (1mile radius)
1,731 acres
Buildable Acreage
1,593 acres
Avg. LMP, Past 5 Years
$44/MWh
Avg. SolarWeighted LMP, Past 5 Years
$48/MWh
Avg. LMP, Next 20 Years
$44/MWh
Avg. SolarWeighted LMP, Next 20 Years
$36/MWh
Avg. PV RatedPower MWac per Parcel
13.39 MW
Avg. PV RatedPower MWac Sum all Parcels
200.80 MW

Opportunity Summary:

This location offers exceptional interconnection headroom, strong withdrawal capability for storage, and nearly 1,600 acres of buildable land. With no competing planned capacity, the site is well positioned for a large scale solar + storage project capable of delivering both energy and capacity value. 

Strengths

  • High interconnection headroom with >1,200 MW historical availability and >1,150 MW projected through 2029 
  • Strong storage viability driven by meaningful withdrawal capacity for arbitrage and capacity value 
  • Large buildable land base with ~1,600 acres enabling utility-scale and phased development 
  • Minimal competing capacity with no planned generation nearby, reducing congestion risk 
  • Stable long-term pricing outlook with flat average LMPs projected over 20 years 
  • Scalable solar potential with ~200 MWac modeled across available parcels 

Challenge

  • Elevated historical LMPs may pressure merchant solar returns without storage or offtake 
  • Solar-weighted price compression risk reinforces the need for co-located storage 
  • Interconnection timing uncertainty tied to queue processing and deliverability studies 
  • Rural infrastructure needs may require incremental site and access investment 
  • Merchant exposure risk if developed without long-term contracts or hedging 

Project 2 – Cass County, Indiana

Attribute
Value
County
Cass
ISO
MISO
Nearest Substation
Walton
Bus Voltage (kV)
345 kV
Avg. Available Injection (MW), Past 1 Year
408 MW
Avg. Available Withdrawal (MW), Past 1 Year
287 MW
Max Injection Capability, Summer 2029
497 MW
Max Withdrawal Capability, Summer 2029
491 MW
Planned Power Capacity
630 MW
Adjacent Acreage (1mile radius)
2,070 acres
Buildable Acreage
1,834 acres
Avg. LMP, Past 5 Years
$44/MWh
Avg. SolarWeighted LMP, Past 5 Years
$49/MWh
Avg. LMP, Next 20 Years
$43/MWh
Avg. SolarWeighted LMP, Next 20 Years
$34/MWh
Avg. PV RatedPower MWac per Parcel
6.89 MW
Avg. PV RatedPower MWac Sum all Parcels
195.60 MW

Opportunity Summary:

Cass County offers a strong land profile and balanced injection/withdrawal capability. While planned capacity at the substation is significant, the site remains attractive for hybrid development due to its acreage and longterm pricing fundamentals. 

Strengths

  • Balanced injection and withdrawal capability with ~500 MW projected capacity by Summer 2029 
  • Large buildable land footprint with ~1,830 acres supporting utility-scale or phased development 
  • High-voltage substation access (345 kV) suitable for large generation and hybrid configurations 
  • Long-term pricing stability with flat projected LMPs over the next 20 years 
  • Meaningful solar scale potential with ~196 MWac modeled across parcels 
  • Hybrid-friendly fundamentals supporting solar + storage value stacking 

Challenge

  • Significant planned generation nearby (630 MW) increasing future congestion and competition risk 
  • Lower interconnection headroom than Site 1, limiting upside for very large single-phase builds 
  • Elevated solar-weighted historical pricing indicating midday congestion risk for standalone solar 
  • Queue deliverability risk as planned capacity materializes ahead of COD 
  • Merchant exposure sensitivity without storage or contracted offtake 

Project 3 – Hamilton County, IN

Attribute
Value
County
Hamilton
ISO
MISO
Nearest Substation
Hortonville
Bus Voltage (kV)
345 kV
Avg. Available Injection (MW), Past 1 Year
646 MW
Avg. Available Withdrawal (MW), Past 1 Year
404 MW
Max Injection Capability, Summer 2029
0 MW
Max Withdrawal Capability, Summer 2029
1,123 MW
Planned Power Capacity
400 MW
Adjacent Acreage (1mile radius)
1,842 acres
Buildable Acreage
1,465 acres
Avg. LMP, Past 5 Years
$44/MWh
Avg. SolarWeighted LMP, Past 5 Years
$50/MWh
Avg. LMP, Next 20 Years
$46/MWh
Avg. SolarWeighted LMP, Next 20 Years
$39/MWh

Opportunity Summary:

Hamilton County stands out for its exceptional withdrawal capability, making it particularly well-suited for storage-heavy hybrid designs. Strong long-term LMP fundamentals and substantial buildable acreage further enhance its attractiveness.

Strengths

  • Exceptional withdrawal capacity with >1,100 MW projected by Summer 2029, ideal for storage-heavy or hybrid designs 
  • Strong long-term pricing fundamentals with stable average and solar-weighted LMPs projected over 20 years 
  • Large buildable land footprint with ~1,465 acres enabling utility-scale or phased development 
  • 345 kV transmission access supporting high-capacity interconnection potential 
  • Attractive for storage value stacking given withdrawal-driven grid support and flexibility

Challenge

  • No future injection capacity projected by Summer 2029, limiting standalone generation viability 
  • Planned nearby generation (400 MW) may increase congestion and competition for injection rights 
  • Lower historical injection availability relative to withdrawal capability constrains solar-only designs 
  • Solar-weighted price exposure reinforces the need for storage or hybrid configurations 

Side-by-side Comparison

1. Interconnection Capability (Hybrid Value)

  • Lawrence: Exceptional injection (1,209 MW avg) and withdrawal (1,011 MW avg) with continued strong available capacity in the 2029 peak load summer planning case. 
  • Cass: Moderate historical and future planning case injection/withdrawal capacities. 
  • Hamilton: Strong historical injection but 0 MW injection capability in 2029 peak load summer planning case, offset by very high withdrawal capability (1,123 MW). Ideal for storage-heavy designs but less so for generation development given the limited potential future injection capacity. 

2. Land Availability

  • Cass: Largest land profile (2,070 adjacent acres; 1,834 buildable). 
  • Hamilton: Strong acreage (1,842 adjacent; 1,465 buildable). 
  • Lawrence: Slightly smaller but still substantial (1,731 adjacent; 1,593 buildable). 

3. Pricing Trends

  • All three sites show similar historical LMPs (~$44/MWh). 
  • Hamilton has the strongest longterm LMP outlook ($46/MWh next 20 years). 
  • Lawrence shows slightly lower forward solarweighted LMPs but remains competitive. 

4. Competitive Pressure

  • Lawrence: 0 MW planned capacity → cleanest interconnection path. 
  • Hamilton: 400 MW planned → moderate competition. 
  • Cass: 630 MW planned → highest competition risk.

Recommendation

Best Overall Site: Lawrence County - Mitchell Lost River Substation

Reason: It offers the strongest combination of interconnection headroom, balanced injection and withdrawal capability, minimal competition, and ample buildable acreage, making it the most flexible and lowest risk site for a largescale solar + storage project. 

Why Lawrence Leads

  • Highest injection and withdrawal capability across all sites 
  • Strong planning case 2029 injection and withdrawal capacities, supporting hybrid project interconnection 
  • No planned capacity, reducing queue congestion and upgrade risk 
  • Large, contiguous buildable acreage suitable for large-scale, co-located projects 
  • Competitive LMPs with stable longterm pricing 

This site supports both energy delivery and storage-driven value capture, making it the most balanced and scalable option. 

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