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Construction of the state's largest solar power generation site got underway today Thursday at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport.

The one-year, $25.4 million project will 

install an array on the roof of the Terminal 1 parking ramp

 that's expected to generate 3 megawatts, or nearly 20 percent of the airport's total electricity. The airport is also converting more than 7,700 parking ramp light fixtures to LEDs to save energy.

"This is a significant move forward ... to look for ways to reduce the demand on energy, finding sustainable measures and ways of providing the power we need without polluting the air and the ground," said Jeff Hamiel, executive director of the Metropolitan Airports Commission.

Hamiel said construction of the solar project will create 250 jobs.


An Xcel Energy grant will fund $2 million of the project's cost while $23 million is being financed through a federal loan program for energy conservation projects, a Metropolitan Airports Commission spokeswoman said.

Science

Environmental News

Tim Pugmire

Author

The project is expected to generate nearly 20 percent of the airport's total electricity.

Minnesota's largest solar power site to land atop airport

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