Minnesota Power planning two utility-scale solar farms

On Monday, Minnesota Power announced plans to build two large-scale solar projects in northern Minnesota. The utility has not yet released cost estimates.

The Regal Solar project will be located near Royalton, Minnesota, and the Boswell Solar project will be located in Cohasset, Minnesota. The Boswell Solar project will “have a capacity of 85 megawatts from about 180,000 bifacial solar modules on about 600 acres.” The Regal Solar project will “have a capacity of 119.5 megawatts from about 255,000 bifacial solar modules on about 800 acres.” Both are expected to be online in mid-2027. The projects are contingent on approvals from the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission, though a version of the Regal Solar Project received its site permit in 2021.

 “These projects will help move us toward our goal of providing more than 80% renewable energy by 2030 while working toward meeting the state of Minnesota law calling for carbon-free energy supplies by 2040. Both projects include preferences for local labor, diverse suppliers, and apprenticeships to train tomorrow’s renewable energy workforce,” said ALLETE Vice President and Minnesota Power Chief Operating Officer Josh Skelton.

Utility-scale solar farms are not efficient in their use of land compared to other power plants like natural gas, coal, and nuclear. A Brookings Institution report from 2020 discusses the issue:

Wind and solar generation require at least 10 times as much land per unit of power produced than coal- or natural gas-fired power plants, including land disturbed to produce and transport the fossil fuels. Additionally, wind and solar generation are located where the resource availability is best instead of where is most convenient for people and infrastructure, since their “fuel” can’t be transported like fossil fuels.

Solar also suffers from a low capacity factor, which is a ratio of how often it actually operates versus its maximum possible energy production. In 2023, solar photovoltaic (PV) had a capacity factor of 23.3%, and in real-world conditions, specific solar projects often run less than that. Nuclear power plants run 90% of the time or more, running nearly 24/7 aside from maintenance.

Minnesota Power, based in Duluth, provides electricity to about 150,000 customers in northeastern Minnesota.