US energy company Madison Gas and Electric (MGE) and WEC Energy Group’s subsidiary We Energies have started operations at a 300MW solar PV plant in Wisconsin, the US.
Located near the communities of Montfort and Cobb in Iowa County, Wisconsin, the Badger Hollow Solar Farm, which MGE called the “largest” solar PV plant in Wisconsin, came online in two 150MW phases. With its first phase coming online in December 2021, the solar PV plant’s second phase began operation last month.
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We Energies’ sister company, Wisconsin Public Service, owns 100MW of the first phase of the project, and MGE owns the other 50MW. For the second phase, We Energies owns 100 MW of the plant’s capacity, with MGE owning the remaining 50MW.
The solar PV plant features 830,000 bi-facial solar modules.
“The completion of the solar PV plant is another step in our ongoing transition to greater use of renewable energy to serve all customers. By 2030, we expect every MGE customer will have 80% fewer carbon emissions from their electricity use,” said Jeff Keebler, MGE chairman, president and CEO.
Last year, MGE announced a plan to buy output from a solar energy and battery storage centre with a total capacity of 465MW in partnership with We Energies and Wisconsin Public Service (WPS).
The Koshkonong Solar Energy Centre, in Wisconsin’s Dane County, is expected to begin operation in late 2025 and will include 300MW solar energy capacity and 165MW battery storage. MGE will own 30MW of solar energy and 16.5MW of battery storage from Koshkonong. We Energies and WPS will own the remaining 270MW solar capacity and 148.5MW battery storage from the centre. Invenergy LLC is the project developer.