Minnesota's Sherco solar power plant officially serving customers across Upper Midwest
CLEAR LAKE, Minn. — Minnesota leaders, including Gov. Tim Walz, gathered on Tuesday at Xcel Energy's Sherco Solar plant near St. Cloud to celebrate a milestone in the state's shift toward carbon-free electricity.
The sun was hard to find, but its power was still harnessed in Clear Lake.
"I am pleased to share that carbon-free electricity from Sherco Solar is officially flowing from this site today," said Bob Frenzel, Xcel Energy's president, chairman and CEO.
It marks the start of Minnesota's transition to clean energy, transforming a coal plant into a solar one.
"We're ready for it, and we don't fear the future, we prepare for it and we embrace it, and that's exactly what's happening here," Walz said.
In the completion of phase one, there are about 500,000 solar panels at Sherco Solar. By 2026, the number is expected to triple to 1.5 million across 5 acres of land, which will be enough to power 150,000 homes across the Upper Midwest.
"I spent quite a bit of time talking about the energy transition, thinking about the energy transition. There's no better place to do that than right here," said Ryan Long, Xcel Energy's president of Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota.
Early this month, Xcel broke ground on a long-duration battery storage pilot to maximize the benefits of renewable energy for days when the sun isn't shining.
"This is going to be one of the first places in the country, in the world, to be doing this," Walz said. "That is a big game changer if we can store this energy when we need to do it."
The three-phase project is one of the largest in the country. It's bringing in 400 construction jobs, a dozen maintenance positions and an estimated $350 million in economic growth.
"This is proving that we can keep energy prices low, we can build renewable projects, we can keep the jobs in the community," Walz said.
Frenzel says Xcel repurposed 24 coal units in the past 15 years without a single workforce reduction.
The entire project will be completed in 2026.
