Minnesota Power announces plans for two solar projects in northern Minnesota

On Monday, Minnesota Power announced plans to build two large solar projects in northern Minnesota.

According to 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS sister station WDIO, a press release from the company says the Boswell Solar project will be located in Cohasset in Itasca County and the Regal Solar project will be near Royalton, Minnesota, which borders Morrison and Benton counties.

It is all part of the company’s EnergyForward strategy to move toward a cleaner energy future. Minnesota Power says the two locations were chosen based on competitive bids in the company’s 2023 solar request for proposals.

The Boswell Solar project in Cohasset will have 180,000 panels on 600 acres of land. If the utility can get the regulatory approvals, the project is expected to be online by mid-2027.

Construction of the two projects is contingent on MPUC and other regulatory approvals.

Minnesota Power, a utility division of ALLETE Inc., sent the following release on Monday morning:

The Boswell Solar project will have a capacity of 85 megawatts from about 180,000 bifacial solar modules on about 600 acres, part of it owned by Minnesota Power. It will utilize existing electric infrastructure at the Boswell Energy Center, requiring only a collector substation and a short transmission line to tie into the grid. The project is expected to be online in mid-2027.

The Regal Solar project will have a capacity of 119.5 megawatts from about 255,000 bifacial solar modules on about 800 acres. The renewable project will tie to the regional electric grid though a new 3.5-mile collector line and substation and is expected to be online in mid-2027.

“These two projects exemplify ALLETE’s sustainability-in-action strategy by creating local jobs and local renewable energy, and the Boswell Solar project will support one of our existing host communities as we continue to plan for the future,” ALLETE Vice President and Minnesota Power Chief Operating Officer Josh Skelton said in the release. “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.

The two projects are part of Minnesota Power’s actions to meet the up-to-300 megawatts of regional solar generation called for in Minnesota Power’s Integrated Resource Plan approved by the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission (MPUC) in 2023.