Alliant Energy officials unveil a solar panel at their Beaver Dam project site. The company wants to contribute 1,100 megawatts of solar generated electricity to Wisconsin’s power grid. Two-coal fired plants in Columbia and Sheboygan counties will be replaced by solar, officials added. Photo courtesy of Alliant Energy.
This summer Madison-based Alliant Energy started installing solar panels at a 50-megawatt （MW） Beaver Dam solar project site, part of a grand plan for the company to build 1,100 MW of solar power across the state. Alliant’s solar project will also retire two coal power plants in Columbia and Sheboygan counties.
The Beaver Dam project calls for 120,000 solar panels across 350 acres of farm field, according to project officials. In June, crews from Burns & McDonnell were installing piles, installing underground cable, building a substation and installing a tracking system so bifacial panels can rotate with the sun and reflect off snowy ground.
When the project wraps up at the end of this year, the energy will go into Beaver Dam’s grid and power around 13,000 homes. Beaver Dam was home to around 16,600 people, according to the 2020 U.S. Census.
This is part of Alliant’s Wisconsin Clean Energy Blueprint, David de Leon, Alliant Energy’s company president in Wisconsin, said.
The company embarked on nine solar projects and has completed three across the state with approval from the Public Service Commission （PSC）， according to company officials. Alliant wants to add a monster 1,100 megawatts （MW） of solar power by the end of 2024 by building facilities in Dodge, Grant, Green, Jefferson, Richland, Rock, Sheboygan, Waushara and Wood counties. The first phase of construction started in May of 2020.
“We’re looking at how we’re going to manage our reliable and cost-effective ways to generate electricity into the future. Solar costs have come down over time. We had the opportunity to advance the plans to develop those and at the same time look into retiring our coal-fired operations in Wisconsin. There are two facilities remaining for us, the Edgewater and Columbia coal facilities, in Wisconsin and those will be retired by mid-2026,” de Leon explained, noting those former coal facilities will be eventually replaced with solar.
During its construction endeavors across Wisconsin, crews working for Alliant had to deal with driving piles into solid, hardened ground, de Leon said. The company also had challenges sourcing panels and equipment but is in a “good place today,” de Leon added.
But when crews overcome those challenges, the payoff is the environmental benefit: Without fuel burning facilities, the solar plant won’t emit carbon emissions. The company is also going to install native grasses and feed mixes to help wildlife, de Leon explained.
With general contractor Burns and McDonnell, Alliant will work with Laborers’ International Union of North America Local 330, International Union of Operating Engineers Local 139, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 159 and North Central States Regional Council of Carpenters Local 314, a spokesperson said.
The project also uses construction partners and contractors AZCO, Mashuda Contractors, Southpaw Fencing, Westphal Electric, Sargent Electric Company and MP Systems, the spokesperson added.
Wisconsin’s largest renewable energy source is through biofuels while solar energy generation is increasing, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration （EIA）。 Other renewables such as solar and geothermal made up 19.8 trillion British thermal units （BTUs） in the state in 2021, according to EIA data.
Natural gas fueled 34% of the state’s utilities in 2021, three times more than a decade earlier, according to EIA officials. Coal-fired plants made up 42% of the state’s electricity net generation in 2021. This was down from a high of 82% in 1997, EIA officials added.
