We Energies plans large-scale solar, battery storage project in Kenosha

We Energies on Tuesday announced plans to develop a 200-megawatt solar farm and 110-megawatt battery storage project in Kenosha County.

The utility would purchase the bulk of the energy produced by the Paris Solar Farm, a 200-megawatt array, and develop the battery storage project, the largest of its kind in Wisconsin. We Energies parent company, WEC Energy, filed its plans with Wisconsin regulators on Tuesday, and plans to spend $2 billion on renewable energy and battery storage projects through 2025.

“This project is another concrete example of our commitment to build a bright, sustainable future,” said Tom Metcalfe, president of We Energies and Wisconsin Public Service. “As the largest renewable energy investor in the state, we know the importance of clean energy. Projects like this maintain reliability, deliver significant savings to customers and support the goals of the Governor’s Task Force on Climate Change.”

The utility’s plans to purchase power generated by the Paris Solar Farm will move it toward a construction start next year, after the Wisconsin Public Service Commission approved Chicago developer Invenergy’s plans for the array in December.

The developer’s plans also included provisions for a 50-megawatt battery storage project. Regulators signaled support for the construction of a battery storage system at the site, but required Invenergy to submit an engineering report for review before beginning construction.

We Energies so-called Paris Battery Park would have more than twice that capacity, and would store solar energy produced by the array. The utility on Tuesday submitted plans for its solar farm and battery storage project to the Public Service Commission for review.

If the commission approves the plans, We Energies and Wisconsin Public Service would own 90% of the project and Madison Gas and Electric would own 10%. The solar farm is expected to generate enough electricity to power 60,000 homes.

Construction of the solar array is expected to cost $220 million and could create about 550 construction jobs, including 390 in Kenosha County, according to an economic analysis of the project. Construction is expected to wrap up in 2023, according to We Energies.

The Paris Solar Energy Center sits on 1,400 acres about 1.5 miles west of Interstate 94, although Invenergy has reached agreements with landowners to use more than 2,500 acres. The Kenosha project would be Wisconsin’s second-largest solar array and would join a host of other large-scale solar farms that have cropped up in the state within the last several years. Invenergy is also developing the state’s largest solar project, the 300-megawatt Badger Hollow solar farm in Iowa County.

Meanwhile, WEC Energy Group‘s investment in Paris Solar Farm and battery storage project come after utility officials last year announced plans to retire 1,800 megawatts of fossil fuel generation in the next five years by closing a part of its coal-fired plant in Oak Creek.

We Energies would shut down the older, southern portion of the power plant and add 1,500 megawatts of clean-energy generation, storage and 300 megawatts of natural gas power. The utility would continue to operate its Elm Road Generating Station in Oak Creek, the largest coal plant in Wisconsin. The company says it plans to reduce its carbon emissions 70% by 2030.

Other utilities have also announced plans to retire coal plants and build solar farms and other new renewable energy facilities in their place.

Alliant Energy earlier this month said it would shut down its Columbia coal plant by 2024 — Wisconsin’s second-largest — and said it would close its Edgewater coal plant in Sheboygan by 2022. The utility, meanwhile, said it plans to acquire 1,000 megawatts of solar by 2023, and eliminate its reliance on coal by 2040. Follow @natebeck9