This year’s sharp U-turn in federal energy policy has added new life to some of the nation’s old, outdated coal power plants, as Energy Secretary Chris Wright issues a series of “emergency” orders requiring them to keep churning the carbon-loaded kilowatts. Nevertheless, the age of cleaner, more affordable 21st century energy solutions is already in full force, as capably illustrated by the planned expansion of the Sherco Energy Hub in Minnesota.
The Sherco facility is an interesting case because it demonstrates how community efforts and basic economics can push the needle on the energy transition. Just eight years ago, site owner Xcel Energy was laying plans to replace its existing Sherco coal power plant at Becker in the Minneapolis area with a new 786-megawatt gas power plant. However, state regulators were wary of the $1 billion price tag, and clean energy advocates organized to push for more economical solutions.
The gas power plan eventually failed and Xcel revised its coal replacement strategy to focus on renewables, renaming the site as the Sherco Energy Hub. The centerpiece of the facility is the Sherco Solar array, a three-phase, 710-megawatt solar plant slated to come fully online in 2026. When that happens, Sherco Solar will replace the entire capacity of a previously retired coal unit at the site. The two remaining coal units at the Sherco Energy Hub are slated for retirement in 2030.
Earlier this year Xcel also outlined plans to retire all of its remaining coal power plants in the region. The strategy includes deploying the company’s existing nuclear assets as well as constructing a new gas power plant with the potential for conversion to hydrogen, but leveraging renewable energy assets in the region is the primary goal.
Xcel dropped word of its latest plan for the Sherco Energy Hub on November 3 in a filing with the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission. As outlined in a press statement from Xcel, the plan includes constructing the largest battery energy storage system in the Midwest on land adjacent to the Sherco site. At 600 megawatts, the new storage system is double the size of a 300-megawatt system previously approved by the PUC at the same location. Another 135.5 megawatts of storage is slated for Xcel’s Blue Lake operation in Shakopee, which is also in the Minneapolis area.
The plan filed with the PUC also includes expanding the nameplate capacity of Sherco Solar with a new, 200-megawatt solar power plant at a site in Clear Lake Township, near Becker. Doing the math, that adds up to 910 megawatts, significantly more than the gas power plant previously planned for the site.
No word yet on the timeline for the Clear Lake solar array, but Xcel does expect to qualify for federal tax credits that are still in effect. If all goes according to plan, the tax credits will offset 30% of the cost of the Blue Lake battery, and 40% of the costs for both the battery and solar projects at the Sherco Energy Hub.
Xcel did provide some details on the energy storage timeline. “If approved, the company intends to start construction on the battery storage projects in 2026, with the batteries serving customers by late 2027,” Xcel stated, noting that the projects will deploy LFP (lithium-iron-phosphate) technology.
For all the partisan political verbiage blowing against wind and solar power, Xcel slices through the rhetoric with a clear, concise, bottom line case for the ability of energy storage to support a diversified energy mix that excludes coal.
“We’re making a significant investment in battery storage because we see it as a critical part of Minnesota’s energy future,” explains Bria Shea, president of Xcel’s Minnesota, North Dakota, and South Dakota operations.
“Batteries help us store energy when it’s inexpensive to produce and dispatch it when needed, allowing us to continue delivering reliable electricity to customers while keeping bills low,” Shea added in a press statement.
“The batteries will re-use existing grid connections, allowing Xcel Energy to store energy produced across its Upper Midwest system at its wind, solar, nuclear and natural gas facilities and release it during periods of high demand,” emphasized Excel, drawing attention to the source-agnostic nature of energy storage.
To further underscore the benefits of its solar plus storage strategy for the Sherco Energy Hub, Xcel has also made room for grazing sheep within the PV array, in collaboration with the ecological services firm Minnesota Native Landscapes.
Solar grazing is a rapidly growing practice in which livestock — primarily sheep — are deployed to prevent vegetation from overgrowing the solar panels. Solar grazing enables solar developers to reduce mowing costs, while also providing local sheep farmers with new opportunities to expand their herds.
Xcel recapped the solar grazing operation in September, noting that Sherco Solar currently hosts nearly 2,000 sheep.
“The sheep—including over 1,500 adults and hundreds of baby lambs—are raised locally in Foley, Minnesota, and are spending approximately six months out of the year grazing across different areas of the site,” Xcel explained.
“Protected by sheep dogs and a guard donkey, with shepherds on staff, this pastoral workforce offers multiple advantages over conventional maintenance methods,” the company added.
Although Xcel did not elaborate on the special skills contributed by the guard donkey, the company did take note of the environmental benefits contributed by the sheep. That includes removing invasive plants without the need for chemical treatments, while enabling native and pollinator-attracting plants to grow. That’s on top of reducing the pollution and expense associated with traditional mowing equipment. Other solar grazing advocates have also noted that sheep are able to reach spots under the solar panels that are difficult to access with conventional equipment.
Xcel also cited Minnesota Native Landscapes O&M supervisor Briana Beck, who drew attention to the natural fertilizer contributed by grazing livestock. “There’s also the thatch reduction, which is really important for the prairie and then that minor disturbance regimen that the prairie is adapted to help it regenerate,” Beck added, noting that water quality is also improved in a properly managed grazing environment.
Against this backdrop, the Sandy Creek coal power plant debacle is living proof that coal power plants have outlived their usefulness in the 21st century. Commissioned in Texas in 2013, Sandy Creek is last new addition to the nation’s coal power fleet, presumably coasting reliably along on engineering lessons learned from a century’s worth of coal power plant construction in the US. Or, not. As of April, a unit at the site unexpectedly shut down and will reportedly remain out of operation for almost two years, until March of 2027.
The organization Institute for Energy Economic and Financial Analysis notes that the next-youngest coal power plant in the US, the Comanche 3 unit in Colorado, has suffered a series of expensive, unplanned outages since first commissioned in 2010. Apparently, US engineers have suddenly forgotten how to build new coal plants. Perhaps they have forgotten how to keep the existing fleet in reliable condition, too. It’s no wonder US energy firms are eager to permanently shed their coal liabilities in favor of more economical and reliable assets like wind and solar plus storage.
Nevertheless, Energy Secretary Chris Wright keeps issuing “emergency” orders aimed at delaying coal retirements, saddling US businesses and ratepayers with higher costs and ongoing pollution hazards. Go figure…
Photo: Hundreds of sheep graze among the panels at the Sherco Solar power plant in Minnesota, which is slated for a major solar plus storage expansion (cropped, courtesy of Excel Energy).
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Tina has been covering advanced energy technology, military sustainability, emerging materials, biofuels, ESG and related policy and political matters for CleanTechnica since 2009. Follow her @tinamcasey on LinkedIn, Mastodon or Bluesky.
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