Minnesota Power plans to build solar projects in Cohasset and Royalton

Minnesota Power announced plans to build two large-scale solar farms in the next few years in central and northern Minnesota.

The Duluth-based utility, which provides electric service to about 150,000 customers in northeastern Minnesota, says the solar projects will be near Royalton and Cohasset. 

Julie Pierce, vice president of strategy and planning for Minnesota Power, called the projects a “key milestone” in the utility’s shift away from producing electricity by burning coal toward cleaner sources of energy.

She said the two projects were chosen from several proposals through a competitive bidding process. The utility has not yet released their estimated cost.

The 85-megawatt Boswell Solar project would cover about 600 acres. It would use existing electric infrastructure at the Boswell Energy Center, a large coal-fired power plant. Minnesota Power plans to stop burning coal at the plant by 2035.

It would be the latest large solar project built next to a retiring coal plant, following Xcel Energy’s Sherco Solar in Becker.

The available land around the Boswell Energy Center was a “core attribute,” Pierce said.

“It’s a longstanding energy community and an energy site,” she said. “We’re looking forward to working with that community in Cohasset to bring this project to life.”

The 120-megawatt Regal Solar project near Royalton was pitched to state regulators several years ago by an independent power producer, and has already gone through the permitting process. It would cover about 800 acres in Benton County, and tie into the regional electric grid with a new transmission line and substation.

“I think the Regal project really has come into its own because it was connecting to our system,” Pierce said. “It was thoughtfully developed and in a later stage, and kind of ready to go.”

The projects will help the utility meet its goal of providing more than 80 percent renewable energy by 2030, Pierce said.

As part of its most recent resource plan approved by state regulators last year, the utility said it would add up to 300 megawatts of regional solar generation and up to 400 megawatts of wind.

A Minnesota law passed last year requires utilities to get 100 percent of their electricity from carbon-free sources by 2040.

In July, over 5 million gallons of coal as wastewater leaked from a pipeline at the Boswell plant, much of it flowing into a nearby lake. After the spill, some environmental groups pushed Minnesota Power to retire its coal units sooner. 

Pierce said Minnesota Power has made an “amazing transition” — from producing about 95 percent of its electricity from fossil fuels in 2005, to more than 50 percent renewable energy today. But she said the energy system requires balance to keep it reliable and affordable.

The two solar projects require approval by the state Public Utilities Commission. Minnesota Power hopes to have them both operating by mid 2027.

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