A year after Osceola County officials unveiled a partnership with Florida State University for a new energy research facility in Harmony, community and university leaders said they are finally ready to get the project off the ground.

Construction on the new FSU Sustainable Energy Science and Engineering Center will not begin until next fall, but the university will begin conducting research in Harmony as early as next year, Harmony Development Company CEO Jim Lentz said at a business luncheon last week.

“We were hopeful last year,” he said. “But now we’re certain this thing will come together.”

By January, FSU will move its center from Tallahassee to Osceola County, Lentz said.

The facility will allow university researchers and students to test different energy technologies, like solar, wind, hydrogen and biomass, for sustainability and widespread use.

The FSU center will focus on researching the different alternative energy sources in different combinations to help develop self-sustainable housing.

Lentz said the first phase of the project will involve a power plant that can combine biomass and bio-power as a combined energy source; a project he said is one-of-a-kind.

“That hasn’t been done, ever,” he said. “It’s unique.”

The six-year-old Harmony’s focus on environmentally conscious construction and development made it a fitting location for the university’s new facility, Lentz said.

“Everything they’re doing is based on sustainability, which is the cornerstone of what we do,” he said.

Harmony also is home to the Florida Energy Research Park, where the FSU facility will eventually be built. Firms located within the park would research and develop sustainable and clean energy technology.

County officials said the Harmony-based complex has the potential to make Osceola County a hotbed for the alternative energy industry.

Job opportunities still haven’t been estimated though. County economic officials and Lentz have said they don’t want to reveal specifics on how many jobs could stem from the project until more details come through.

“We don’t want to be pronouncing the creation of jobs until we’re sure those jobs and opportunities are finalized,” Lentz said.

Still, Lentz said, once more details come in, more people will have more choices. He said he expected the partnership between Harmony and FSU, with the university maintaining its facility locally, to last more than 20 years.

“This will create opportunities,” he said. “It’s where everybody wants to be.”