Minnesota Approves Expansion of Xcel Solar Farm at Retiring Coal-Fired Plant

Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--In keeping with its goal of become a net-zero-emissions energy provider by 2050, Xcel Energy Incorporated (NASDAQ:XEL) (Minneapolis, Minnesota) will further expand a solar farm being built at a retiring coal-fired power plant in Minnesota. Regulators in the state gave the additional project the green light last week.

In 2015, Xcel filed plans with the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission (PUC) to retire two of three units at the coal-fired Sherbourne County (Sherco) Generating Station in Becker, Minnesota. The facility's generating units have a combined capacity of more than 2,200 megawatts (MW), making it the largest power plant in Minnesota. Xcel's plans call for the retirement of Unit 2, which began operating in 1977, this year, followed by Unit 1, which has been in operation since 1976, in 2026. A few years later, Xcel announced plans to retire the facility's Unit 3, the newest of the units, which began operating in 1987, in 2030, when Xcel is aiming to achieve an 80% emissions reduction from 2005 levels.

Xcel initially planned to construct a natural gas-fired plant at the Sherco site, but this idea was eventually scrapped, and plans for a solar farm at the site took shape and continue to evolve. The Minnesota PUC approved Xcel's plans to construct 460 MW of solar generation at the Sherco site in September 2022, and work on the project commenced in May of this year.

The 460 MW of generation originally proposed will come from two sites on the acreage that will follow slightly different construction schedules. Work on the 230-MW West portion began earlier this year, and construction of the East portion, which also will provide 230 MW, is set to begin in the near future. The West portion is expected to begin operations next year, followed by the East portion in 2025. Subscribers to Industrial Info's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) Power Project Database can learn more by viewing the project reports on the East and West portions of the project.

With last week's approval of an additional 250 MW of solar power at the site, the facility, already slated to be one of the largest solar plants in the Midwest, will grow even larger. Xcel is considering the idea of putting a battery energy storage system at the site, although this remains a number of years off. Subscribers can click here to learn more.

Xcel is planning to exit coal-fired generation completely by 2030, and to hasten its progress, has announced the planned retirement of other coal-fired plants. Last year, the company said it would retire its 1,067-MW Tolk power plant in the Texas Panhandle in 2028, four years earlier than originally planned and allowing Xcel to hasten its departure from coal. Subscribers to Industrial Info's Power Plant Database can click here for the Tolk plant profile.

About 90 miles northeast of the Tolk plant, at the Harrington coal-fired station in Amarillo, Texas, Xcel is planning on replacing coal-fired generation, but rather than using solar, the company will convert three units of the plant to burn natural gas. The conversion of units 1 and 2 is set to take place next year, accounting for 700 MW of generation, followed by Unit 3 in 2025, which will covert another 350 MW to gas. Subscribers can click here for the related project reports.

The largest portion of Xcel's active renewable energy projects are in Minnesota, thanks largely to the Sherco projects, but the company is underway with other renewable endeavors in the state in the form of windfarm repowers. At the Grand Meadow Windfarm in Dexter, Minnesota, Xcel is replacing 67 1.5-MW turbines with 1.6-MW turbines featuring larger rotors, upgraded gearboxes and other associated components. The project is expected to be completed by the end of this year.

Xcel is planning a generation increase of about 10 MW, to reach a total of 210 MW, when it replaces the rotors, gearboxes and nacelles of 100 wind turbines at the Pleasant Valley Windfarm near Hayfield, Minnesota. The project is set to take place over 2025. Subscribers can learn more by viewing the project reports on the Grand Meadow and Pleasant Valley projects.

Subscribers to Industrial Info's GMI Power Database can click here to view reports for all of the projects discussed in this article and click here for the related plant profiles.

Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading provider of industrial market intelligence. Since 1983, IIR has provided comprehensive research, news and analysis on the industrial process, manufacturing and energy related industries. IIR's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) helps companies identify and pursue trends across multiple markets with access to real, qualified and validated plant and project opportunities. Across the world, IIR is tracking over 200,000 current and future projects worth $17.8 trillion (USD).