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Released February 19, 2019 | SUGAR LAND
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Written by John Egan for Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Minnesota Power (Duluth, Minnesota), the electric utility unit of ALLETE Incorporated (NYSE:ALE) (Duluth, Minnesota), recently took steps to further decarbonize its generation portfolio. The utility signed a windfarm power-purchase agreement and won approval from one set of regulators to build a natural gas-fired power plant in Wisconsin, which would have a capacity of between 525 and 625 megawatts (MW).
Like electric utilities around the country, Minnesota Power is decarbonizing its portfolio. As recently as 2005, coal accounted for about 95% of Minnesota Power's generation. But a variety of strategic initiatives are expected to transform the utility's resource mix: heavy investments in wind power; construction of a high-voltage transmission line to the Manitoba border; planned and actual retirement of about 700 MW of coal-fired generation; and construction of a new gas-fired power plant.
By 2025, renewables are projected to account for about 44% of Minnesota Power's resource mix. Coal is projected to be about 43% by that time, while natural gas is expected to account for 7%. Purchases are pegged at about 5% of the mix in 2025.
The utility's EnergyForward plan aims to lower carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions 40% by 2030, when compared with 2005. A lot of that reduction will come from retiring about 697 MW of coal-fired generation from its 2,050-MW system by 2026. The utility retired one unit of its Taconite Harbor Energy Center in 2015 and idled two other units at that station in 2016. Both idled units are slated for retirement in 2020. The Taconite plant has a combined generating capacity of about 225 MW.
Minnesota Power converted its coal-fired Laskin Energy Center to burn gas in 2015. The utility also retired the 135-MW Boswell units 1 and 2 last December. Finally, it plans to phase out long-term contracts for about 227 MW of coal-fired generation by 2026.
To replace that coal-fired generation, Minnesota Power already has added about 620 MW of wind power and 10 MW of solar generation. And it is constructing a high-voltage transmission line, the Great Northern Transmission Project, to import carbon-free electricity from Manitoba. Construction of that line began last summer, and it is expected to begin service in mid-2020. The company has estimated construction will cost between $500 million and $650 million, including substation work. For more on that project, see February 21, 2017, article - Minnesota Power Begins Preliminary Construction Work on Great Northern Transmission Line.
The next large chunk of renewable generation will be a 250-MW windfarm being developed by Tenaska Incorporated (Omaha, Nebraska). Minnesota Power signed a 20-year power-purchase agreement with Tenaska at the end of 2018 for the Nobles 2 windfarm, to be built in Nobles County, Minnesota. The $400 million project is scheduled to break ground this August. Tenaska plans to have the project operating by the end of 2020.
Other operational wind projects include the Bison Wind Energy Center in North Dakota, which was expanded to 500 MW, and the 25-MW Taconite Ridge Wind Energy Center.
Another big piece of the utility's decarbonizing puzzle is a plan to build the $700 million Nemadji Trail Energy Center, a gas-fired plant in Superior, Wisconsin, in partnership with Dairyland Power Cooperative (LaCrosse, Wisconsin). It is expected to have a capacity of between 525 and 625 MW. Minnesota utility regulators in late 2018 approved Minnesota Power's participation in that project. A decision from Wisconsin utility regulators is expected no earlier than mid-2019. The current timeline for the project is to break ground in late 2021 and begin operations by mid-2024.
Industrial Info Resources (IIR), with global headquarters in Sugar Land, Texas, six offices in North America and 12 international offices, is the leading provider of global market intelligence specializing in the industrial process, heavy manufacturing and energy markets. Industrial Info's quality-assurance philosophy, the Living Forward Reporting Principle, provides up-to-the-minute intelligence on what's happening now, while constantly keeping track of future opportunities. Follow IIR on: Facebook - Twitter - LinkedIn. For more information on our coverage, send inquiries to info@industrialinfo.com or visit us online at http://www.industrialinfo.com/.
Like electric utilities around the country, Minnesota Power is decarbonizing its portfolio. As recently as 2005, coal accounted for about 95% of Minnesota Power's generation. But a variety of strategic initiatives are expected to transform the utility's resource mix: heavy investments in wind power; construction of a high-voltage transmission line to the Manitoba border; planned and actual retirement of about 700 MW of coal-fired generation; and construction of a new gas-fired power plant.
By 2025, renewables are projected to account for about 44% of Minnesota Power's resource mix. Coal is projected to be about 43% by that time, while natural gas is expected to account for 7%. Purchases are pegged at about 5% of the mix in 2025.
The utility's EnergyForward plan aims to lower carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions 40% by 2030, when compared with 2005. A lot of that reduction will come from retiring about 697 MW of coal-fired generation from its 2,050-MW system by 2026. The utility retired one unit of its Taconite Harbor Energy Center in 2015 and idled two other units at that station in 2016. Both idled units are slated for retirement in 2020. The Taconite plant has a combined generating capacity of about 225 MW.
Minnesota Power converted its coal-fired Laskin Energy Center to burn gas in 2015. The utility also retired the 135-MW Boswell units 1 and 2 last December. Finally, it plans to phase out long-term contracts for about 227 MW of coal-fired generation by 2026.
To replace that coal-fired generation, Minnesota Power already has added about 620 MW of wind power and 10 MW of solar generation. And it is constructing a high-voltage transmission line, the Great Northern Transmission Project, to import carbon-free electricity from Manitoba. Construction of that line began last summer, and it is expected to begin service in mid-2020. The company has estimated construction will cost between $500 million and $650 million, including substation work. For more on that project, see February 21, 2017, article - Minnesota Power Begins Preliminary Construction Work on Great Northern Transmission Line.
The next large chunk of renewable generation will be a 250-MW windfarm being developed by Tenaska Incorporated (Omaha, Nebraska). Minnesota Power signed a 20-year power-purchase agreement with Tenaska at the end of 2018 for the Nobles 2 windfarm, to be built in Nobles County, Minnesota. The $400 million project is scheduled to break ground this August. Tenaska plans to have the project operating by the end of 2020.
Other operational wind projects include the Bison Wind Energy Center in North Dakota, which was expanded to 500 MW, and the 25-MW Taconite Ridge Wind Energy Center.
Another big piece of the utility's decarbonizing puzzle is a plan to build the $700 million Nemadji Trail Energy Center, a gas-fired plant in Superior, Wisconsin, in partnership with Dairyland Power Cooperative (LaCrosse, Wisconsin). It is expected to have a capacity of between 525 and 625 MW. Minnesota utility regulators in late 2018 approved Minnesota Power's participation in that project. A decision from Wisconsin utility regulators is expected no earlier than mid-2019. The current timeline for the project is to break ground in late 2021 and begin operations by mid-2024.
Industrial Info Resources (IIR), with global headquarters in Sugar Land, Texas, six offices in North America and 12 international offices, is the leading provider of global market intelligence specializing in the industrial process, heavy manufacturing and energy markets. Industrial Info's quality-assurance philosophy, the Living Forward Reporting Principle, provides up-to-the-minute intelligence on what's happening now, while constantly keeping track of future opportunities. Follow IIR on: Facebook - Twitter - LinkedIn. For more information on our coverage, send inquiries to info@industrialinfo.com or visit us online at http://www.industrialinfo.com/.
