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Minnesota is taking another step forward in the effort to generate carbon-free electricity, as the state’s Public Utilities Commission has unanimously approved the site permit for a solar power generation and battery storage project in southern Minnesota.

Northern Crescent Solar and Storage project by Primergy Solar in Faribault County

 would be able to generate up to 150 megawatts of grid interconnected solar power and store up to 50 megawatts of electricity into grid-charged batteries on site. The facility will take up about 1,200 acres of private land about two hours south of the Twin Cities and just north of the Iowa border.

This is Primergy Solar’s first project in Minnesota, though it has developed other projects that include both solar generation and battery storage. Project developers tell MPR News that they expect Northern Crescent to begin delivering electricity in southern Minnesota sometime in 2028.

“Our next steps before we can go online is to find a buyer for the energy of the project,” said Helen Roach, Primergy Solar project development manager based in Chicago. “We are optimistic that we will find a buyer for the energy because this project is very well developed. It has its permit. It’s advanced in the transmission process, and there’s very low risk yet for the project, and combined with the complementary wind in the area, makes it ideal for the company to buy our energy.”

Once a local utility to buy their power is found, Roach says Primergy Solar will be able to finance the project, which will cost an estimated $305 million.

Wind and solar energy are now often considered one of the cheapest ways to generate electricity. Evan Hughard, a Primergy Solar senior project development manager based in Durham, N.C., says lithium-ion battery systems can store up to a couple hours of that electricity, then send it back onto the power grid when the sun isn’t shining or wind isn’t blowing, continuing to provide affordable electricity to customers.

“The real benefit of these hybrid systems is the grid reliability that they offer,” Hughard said. “They provide services to local utilities that really help create that sort of stable energy grid that Americans know and love and benefit from, especially during some of those famous Minnesota winters.”

Other similar hybrid projects in the state were also approved for solar and battery storage 

like the Snowshoe Energy Storage Project that will be built on an 18-acre site west of Rochester near Byron. 

 It’s Minnesota’s first stand-alone energy storage project, which is considered an important milestone in the state’s effort in transitioning to produce all of its electricity completely carbon-free. 

With Minnesota’s renewable energy goals, Roach says there will continue to be a demand for renewable energy projects like Northern Crescent that includes both solar power generation and electricity storage.

“Projects like Northern Crescent directly help the state achieve those renewable energy goals as well as meeting growing energy demand,” she said. “It will help diversify the state’s energy mix and provide needed reliability during peak demand periods.”

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Minnesota is taking another step toward carbon-free energy production as the state’s Public Utilities Commission has approved a permit for the Northern Crescent Solar and Storage project by Primergy Solar in Faribault County.

Mark Steil | MPR News 2018

A photo of a solar plus-battery storage project.

Minnesota greenlights green energy generation and storage project in Faribault county

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