Xcel Energy is now delivering carbon-free electricity from one of the nation’s largest solar projects to customers in the Upper Midwest, marking a major milestone in the company’s clean energy transition and the first of several major investments at the Sherco location in central Minnesota.
“Our progress at Sherco Solar shows that we’re not just talking about the future of clean energy, we’re building it,” said Bob Frenzel, chairman, president and CEO of Xcel Energy. “This is the first large-scale solar facility we own and operate, and it is an important milestone on Xcel Energy’s journey to achieve our carbon-free vision in a way that leverages innovative technologies, creates jobs, supports our communities and ensures reliability for our customers. I commend our employees, contractors and partners who have come together and worked to make this transition a reality.”
Sherco Solar’s first connection to the Upper Midwest network occurred in late October, serving customers across the region with more than 220 megawatts of low-cost solar energy. Two additional connection phases will come into effect in 2025 and 2026. Once completed, Sherco Solar’s combined capacity of 710 MW will provide enough clean energy to power 150,000 homes in the Upper Midwest and replace the capacity of the nearby Sherco plant’s first coal-fired power plant that was the last to retire. year.
Sherco Solar will provide the lowest cost solar energy on Xcel Energy’s Upper Midwest system. The project represents an investment of approximately $1.1 billion in clean energy infrastructure.
Sherco Solar will create 400 high-paying union construction jobs, plus 12 ongoing operations and maintenance jobs. The project is an opportunity for participants in Xcel Energy’s Power Up workforce and development program, which the PUC and the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development played a key role in shaping. The workforce program is designed to provide opportunities for people underrepresented in the energy and construction industries.
“Sherco Solar is creating hundreds of jobs with family-sustaining wages for IBEW 292 members, who are keeping the lights on for Minnesotans while building the clean energy infrastructure that will power the state for decades to come,” said Jeff Heimerl, business manager of International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 292. “Nearly 200 IBEW members helped deliver the first phase of Sherco Solar, and we are already hard at work on the next phases of the project as we help the state achieve its goal of 100% carbon-free energy production.”
The project will also contribute an estimated $350 million in local economic benefits to Sherburne County communities as Sherco’s coal-fired power plant is phased out by 2030.
News item from Xcel Energy
