Coal Power Company Solar Power Generation Project

Does Xcel Energy have a solar power plant in Minnesota?

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) launched power generation from the first phase of its 710 MW solar complex in Minnesota set to replace a shuttered unit at its Sherco coal-fired power station, Renewables Now reported Wednesday. The 220 MW photovoltaic farm is injecting electricity into the grid for customers across the Upper Midwest, the company said.

Will Xcel layoff workers at the Sherco coal plant?

In Minnesota, Xcel is promising no layoffs for workers at the Sherco coal plant. “We really need them to stay at those coal plants until the end of (the plant’s) life because they do provide critical reliability and energy for our communities,” Long said.

Where is the largest coal power plant in Minnesota?

Towering over Becker, a community of a little more than 5,000 people northwest of Minneapolis, is one of the nation’s largest coal power plants. It is being replaced — to the dismay of some residents — with thousands of acres of solar panels and a test of long-duration batteries.

Will Xcel Energy leave a fossil fuel plant plugged in?

Instead of letting it go to waste as the fossil fuel plant closes, Xcel Energy is going to leave it plugged in to connect the largest solar project in the Upper Midwest, and one of the largest in the entire country, directly to the grid.

Can a new solar array plug into a gas plant?

Several power plants in Illinois are attempting something similar, and in Virginia, a new solar array is plugging into the interconnection at a nearby gas plant. Solar panels sit on acres of old farmland in Becker, Minnesota — part of Xcel Energy's massive Sherco solar project.

Does Sherco have a solar farm?

The 220 MW photovoltaic farm is injecting electricity into the grid for customers across the Upper Midwest, the company said. The Sherco Phase 1 solar park was installed as part of a larger project designed to replace the capacity of the Sherco plant's first coal unit which was retired in late 2023.