Foxconn and We Energies plan to partner on a solar project with around 2,000 panels on the Taiwan-based company’s Mount Pleasant campus.
In a press release, Foxconn Technology Group described the effort as “one of the largest nonresidential solar projects in Racine County” and said it is “committed to integrating green and sustainable practices throughout our operations.”
“As Foxconn’s operations in Wisconsin expand in response to market demand, the presence of renewable energy resources within the park demonstrates our commitment to environmental stewardship across the manufacturing supply chain to our customers and the community,” the company’s statement said.
We Energies will install, own and maintain the 1-megawatt project, which is capable of producing enough energy to power 300 homes. Renderings show the solar panels being installed around retention ponds at the company’s Mount Pleasant campus.
“We’re pleased to bring more clean energy to Wisconsin through this partnership with Foxconn,” said Gale Klappa, executive chairman — WEC Energy Group. “As Foxconn expands its operations, this project will deliver affordable, reliable and clean energy for years to come.”
When Foxconn had much more ambitious plans for its campus, Klappa had discussed the potential for 100 to 150 MW of rooftop solar at the Mount Pleasant campus. Most of the solar installations in Wisconsin are much smaller. The system installed on Harley-Davidson’s Menomonee Falls plant, for example, has a 2.25 MW capacity.
The press release says Foxconn has invested more than $1 billion in the state and has more than 1,000 employees manufacturing data servers and motherboards for tier-1 customers.
“These customers look to suppliers such as Foxconn to use renewable sources of energy throughout the manufacturing process when determining additional business growth,” the release says.
