By Jacob Roushia - August 17th 2022

 

BELOIT

Alliant Energy’s Paddock Solar Project in the Town of Beloit, began construction on Monday.


Chris Caporale, Communications Partner with Alliant Energy said the Paddock Solar Energy Project is expected to be completed and be operational by the end of 2023. The 500-acre solar farm will be located near Highway 213 and West County Road Q, in the Town of Beloit.


The company also announced the near completion of the North Star Solar Project, located in the Town of Fulton, which is expected to be operational in September. The project finished sooner than projected with an initial projected completion closer to the end of 2022.

Both projects are part of a 12 solar farm plan in Wisconsin to produce electricity using renewable resources and decrease CO2 emissions.


Erik Jensen is the construction manager overseeing the North Rock and Paddock Solar Project.


Jensen explained that there would be bringing on 100 union construction workers for the Paddock project in the Town of Beloit.


The Paddock Solar Project is one of the larger projects planned by Alliant Energy with 150,000 to 165,000 solar panels and is a 65-megawatt (MW) facility, according to Jensen. The project would be able to power up to 17,000 Wisconsin homes.


In June, the Town of Beloit raised concerns regarding the project and construction. Alliant Energy and the Town of Beloit Board of Supervisors came to an agreement that the company would pay for any damage done to the roads during construction as well as paying additional permit fees.


Town officials were concerned the construction equipment and vehicles passing through could potentially cause damage to the roads surrounding the project.
 
The agreement included the company paying the Town of Beloit $4,502 for the initial operations permit and $521 for additional building permits. The additional buildings include temporary structures used during construction including trailers or field offices.


Caporale announced that the total cost estimated for the Paddock project would be about $98 million.

The North Star Project in the Town of Fulton will be a 50-megawatt facility with an estimated 120,000 solar panels.


There are about 100 people working on the project every day, according to the company’s press release.

the North Rock Project’s substation was completed and is one of the last steps in the process. This station takes the energy from the solar panels and passes it onto the grid. The last panels were installed in July.


The project’s crew is now putting the finishing touches on the electrical work.


Once the finishing touches are completed and the project is active, the company will go into the final stage called commissioning. This ensures that everything is working correctly before being fully operational.


Once the project is fully complete it will be providing electric power to up to 13,000 homes in Wisconsin.

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