The Baldwin County Commission has signed off on the last local piece of a tax incentive package for a $74 million geothermal power parts manufacturing plant taking shape in Loxley.
During its July 21 meeting, county commissioners voted unanimously to approve and recognize a tax incentive the Loxley Industrial Board requested and the Loxley City Council approved on July 6. The item drew no discussion before the vote, capping a fast-moving incentive package for a project that has already broken ground.
The Deal
In total, the city of Loxley will give Terravanta Power Systems an estimated $3.09 million in property and local sales tax breaks to support construction of a facility that will manufacture parts for the geothermal energy production industry. The break has built-in limits: taxes that fund public education will still be levied in full, and the sales tax exemption applies only to purchases related to construction of the project.
Once the facility is complete and operational, the city expects to collect roughly $265,090 per year in property and other locally levied taxes — a permanent stream that officials in the fast-growing central Baldwin County town hope will anchor further industrial recruitment along its corridor.
The project itself broke ground earlier this month. Terravanta will occupy a 200,000-square-foot manufacturing and assembly facility and create 63 jobs.
Who Is Terravanta
Terravanta Power Systems is a subsidiary of Kaishan Compressor USA and is supported by the broader Kaishan Group, a global industrial organization involved in manufacturing, power generation and geothermal development. Kaishan Compressor USA has had facilities in Loxley since 2017, making the expansion an extension of an existing relationship rather than a courtship of an outside company.
Geothermal energy has been expanding worldwide as utilities seek reliable, carbon-free baseload power, and the equipment that drives it — compressors, turbines, valves and pressure vessels — is specialized manufacturing that few regions produce. A Loxley plant supplying that supply chain positions Baldwin County in a niche with growing demand as geothermal capacity is built out across the western United States and internationally.
Why Incentives, and Why This Shape
Manufacturing incentive packages typically trade short-term tax relief for long-term investment. In this case, the abatement covers the construction window, when the capital costs are heaviest, while preserving the education taxes that fund Baldwin County’s public schools and capping the sales tax relief to construction-period purchases. Once the plant is running, the town’s property tax base grows by a seven-figure asset generating roughly a quarter-million dollars a year.
The structure also reflects Baldwin County’s layered approval process. Because incentives touch both city and county tax rolls, the county’s recognition vote was required to make the package effective. Commissioners’ silence on the item — no debate, no questions — suggested the request had been vetted through the Loxley Industrial Board’s review and the county’s standard evaluation process before it reached the agenda.
What It Means for Loxley
Loxley has grown from a small crossroads town into one of Baldwin County’s industrial hubs, with manufacturing and distribution operations drawing on the town’s position near Interstate 10 and the Foley Beach Express. The Terravanta project adds a specialized manufacturing operation to that base, with jobs in machining, assembly and plant operations that typically pay above the county’s median wage.
The geothermal sector itself is projected to grow as electric grids seek always-on power to complement intermittent renewables. Manufacturing the components in Baldwin County ties the local economy to that global build-out — and gives the county a 63-job proof point to show when the next manufacturer comes calling.
Construction is underway, with the facility expected to begin production once the 200,000-square-foot building is completed and equipped.