Plans for largest solar energy plant in Minnesota revealed

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The largest solar energy plant in Minnesota, a 460MW plant, has been planned by Xcel Energy who wants to construct the plant in Becker, next to the company’s Sherco coal-power facility. The US$575 million solar energy plant will help replace some electricity generation that will be lost through the early retirement of Xcel’s three Sherco coal generators. The Minneapolis-based company said the Sherco project would be among the lowest-cost solar power plants in the state with its economics will be enhanced by using existing transmission infrastructure at the Sherco coal plants.

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The Sherco solar energy plant, once approved by the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission (PUC), will be constructed between 2022 and 2024 and will be developed by both Xcel and Edina-based National Grid Renewables however Xcel would own and operate the plant. Minnesota’s largest source of solar power is the Community Solar Garden program, which has a 789MW capacity scattered among 400 sites. Xcel administers the program, which was created by the state Legislature. Independent power companies own the solar sites. Xcel stated the Sherco solar project is part of its plan to transition to 100% clean power by 2050. The solar plant would come online in 2024, the year Xcel plans to retire the first of three 680MW coal-fired generators at Sherco. The last of the three would be shuttered in 2030.

“The Sherco solar project will deliver more of the renewable energy our customers want while also keeping bills affordable for the long-term,” Christopher Clark, Xcel’s president for Minnesota and the Dakotas, said in a news release. The company said in a news statement that it is “emphasizing hiring minority and women-owned companies and individuals” to build its new projects. They are also developing a workforce and training program “that will help provide utility industry and construction skills to those communities.”