A 250-megawatt solar project located on about 2,000 acres of land in the town of Bradford in Rock County and the town of Darien in Walworth County is now online.
The project is located near near Highway 14 and Interstate 43 and was developed by Chicago-based Invenergy LLC.
The Darien Solar Energy Center has more than 600,000 solar panels and is expected to generate enough clean energy to power about 75,000 households each year, according to announcements from We Energies and Madison Gas and Electric.
“Our customers count on us to deliver reliable energy — it’s our job to provide it safely 24 hours a day, 365 days a year,” said Mike Hooper, president — We Energies. “These new solar projects, along with our planned investments in low-carbon natural gas power plants and more renewable energy, will continue to support reliability and economic growth across the state.”
“Carbon is our target, and the Darien Solar Energy Center is another important step as we continue our progress toward achieving our science-based carbon reduction goals,” said Jeff Keebler, chairman, president and CEO of MGE. “MGE’s investments to enable our continued transition toward deep decarbonization of our energy supply also serve to ensure that all our customers share in the economic and environmental benefits of our more sustainable energy future.”
We Energies and Wisconsin Public Service, both subsidiaries of WEC Energy Group, own 225 MW of capacity from the project. MGE owns the remaining 25 MW.
A 75MW battery storage component of the project is still in the works and expected to go into service in 2026.
When the project was initially proposed in 2021, the solar portion was expected to cost $345 million. The latest estimates put the total cost around $474 million for the three utilities.
The initial target for commercial operation was the end of 2023.
The utilities did file a force majeure notice with the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin, citing the Uyghur Force Labor Prevention Act as the reason for delays and cost increases. The law banned importing solar panels from certain regions in China and restricted and delayed modules needed for the project.
It is the second major solar project to go online in recent months. The Paris solar project in Kenosha County went online in December. The three utilities are also partners in that project.
