Jefferson County approves permit for 75MW solar farm

Officials in Jefferson County have approved a permit for a 75-megawatt solar array that would produce power for Alliant Energy.

The Jefferson County Planning and Zoning Committee approved a conditional use permit this week for Ranger Power’s proposed Crawfish River Solar farm, which would produce enough energy for 10,000 homes.

Madison-based Alliant Energy would purchase power generated by the plant under its plan to spend $900 million on six solar farms that would produce 675 megawatts of power. Construction on the project is expected to get underway next year and wrap up in 2022.

Alliant would own and operate the array once it’s built. The utility has said it will have 1,000 megawatts of solar power in operation by 2023.

Plans call for the Crawfish River Solar farm to sit adjacent to the 149-megawatt Badger State Solar project on 450 acres in the town of Jefferson. Ranger Power also developed the Badger State Project, which would produce power for Dairyland Power Cooperative.