A Florida-based company is planning to build Wisconsin’s largest solar project in Two Rivers.
Florida-based NextEra Energy Resources will build and operate the 100-megawatt Point Beach Solar Energy Center neighboring the Point Beach Nuclear Plant, also owned by the Florida company.
The project could create between 150 and 200 construction jobs and open in 2021, according to the a press release on the project.
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Wisconsin-based nonprofit WPPI Energy has agreed to buy the solar power for 20 years and supply it to 23,000 homes, most of which will be in Wisconsin, said Andy Kellen, vice president of power supply resources for the nonprofit.
WPPI Energy supplies electricity to 51 community-owned utilities in Wisconsin, Michigan’s Upper Peninsula and Iowa.
Driving forces behind WPPI Energy’s decision include federal investment tax credits on solar projects ending in a few years and the nonprofit’s interest in diversifying its energy sources. The nonprofit already purchases from the nuclear plant and coal-fired plants.
“The timing of the request for proposals was kind of driven by the fact that those tax credits are being phased out over the next several years, so we wanted to try to take advantage of resources while the tax credit was still available,” Kellen said.
There is no indication that a change in presidential administrations will affect the credits.
The agreement announced Monday came as good news to Tyler Huebner, executive director of RENEW Wisconsin., a nonprofit that promotes renewable, clean energy for the state. Huebner said 100 megawatts of solar will go a long way.
“That is a really huge solar project,” Huebner said. “It’ll be the biggest that’s in the Midwest, tied with a project that big in Minnesota.”
Once finished, the Two River’s project alone will nearly double Wisconsin’s current solar capacity.
About 55 megawatts of solar are built or presently in construction, that’s up from 25 megawatts in 2015, according to RENEW Wisconsin estimates.
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