Alliant Energy’s solar project in the Town of Fulton has been completed, the energy company announced Wednesday.
“By late October construction was complete and the site began generating electricity, ahead of our planned December 2022 in-service target date,” said Tony Palese, Alliant Energy senior communications partner. “Crews completed some minor site-work and final cleanup in November.”
The solar project, titled North Rock Solar Project, is a 50-megawatt (MW) station that will generate enough zero-fuel-cost electricity to power approximately 13,000 homes. This is powered by the nearly 120,000 solar panels spanning 473 acres that are installed at the project site.
“We relied on Wisconsin-based union workers and local contractors to construct the North Rock Solar project safely, on time and in a way that benefits everyone,” Palese said. “By hiring locally, we were able to keep project dollars in the community, support a strong workforce and deliver a quality site that will benefit our customers for decades to come.”
Palese said workers logged over 137,000 total hours on site with zero OSHA recordable injuries.
There are 12 Alliant Energy solar projects that have been completed or are being worked on across Wisconsin.
“As we look for new opportunities to strengthen our generation portfolio and deliver more cost-effective energy to our customers, additional solar projects may be announced down the road,” Palese said. “We are also looking at cost-effective investments in advanced energy solutions, such as utility-scale battery storage, to meet customer needs and improve reliability.”
Two Alliant solar projects are located in the Town of Beloit and Town of Decatur and are called the Paddock Solar Project and Albany Solar Project respectively. Both of the solar projects are currently being worked on and are scheduled to be complete 2023.
“We still expect the Paddock and Albany solar projects to be completed by the end of 2023,” Palese said. ”Pile installation and some electrical work is underway at the Paddock site while we expect to begin pile installation at Albany in the spring. We will continue to work on the Paddock site through the winter.”
The Paddock Solar Project in the Town of Beloit will be a 65 MW solar project spanning 500 acres. The solar project is being constructed near Highway 213 and West County Road Q, in the Town of Beloit.
The Paddock Solar Project is one of the larger projects planned by Alliant Energy with 150,000—165,000 solar panels, according to Erik Jensen, construction manager of both Paddock and Albany projects. The project would be able to power up to 17,000 Wisconsin homes.
The Albany Solar Project, similar to the North Rock project, is a 50 MW station. It is projected to cover about 400 acres of land within the Town of Decatur.
Alliant Energy’s 12 solar projects will create more than 2,000 construction jobs, provide an estimated $130 million in local tax revenue over the next 30 years and help customers avoid more than $1.6 billion in long-term costs, according to Allaint’s press release.
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