Mercury Marine, Alliant Energy seeking approval to build 5-MW solar array near Wisconsin HQ
Boat engine maker Mercury Marine says it will partner with utility Alliant Energy to build a 5-MW solar array in eastern Fond du Lac County, Wisconsin, that will help supply renewable energy to offset Mercury’s energy use in the region.
More than 12,000 solar panels will be installed on this 32-acre Ledgeview Solar Project, which will be developed and constructed by OneEnergy Renewables on a privately owned land in Fond du Lac County.
Electricity generated through the new solar facility will be enough to power approximately 1,300 homes annually, and it will offset 10% of the electricity Mercury uses on its Fond du Lac campus.
“This solar project is good for Mercury, the Fond du Lac community and the environment,” Chris Drees, Mercury Marine President, said. “Our investment in this solar infrastructure, combined with our other solar investments, will provide clean, renewable energy and propel us toward our goal to derive 50% of our electricity usage from renewable sources by the end of 2030.”
The project still needs review and approval by the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin. Construction is expected to start in spring 2023, with the solar facility likely to commission in October 2023.
This will be the first project under Alliant Energy’s Renewable Energy Partner program, which is aimed at supporting commercial and industrial customers achieve their sustainability goals.
Mercury already has installed solar panels at its Fond du Lac world headquarters. The rooftop solar array was commissioned in January last year and can generate enough electricity to power its warehouse operations for another 30 years.
The company, a division of New Brunswick Corp., also installed an array of 2,000 solar panels at its European headquarters in Petit Rechain, Belgium, in 2017 – which was its first ever solar project. The deployment has helped the European HQ reduce its consumption of electricity drawn from the main grid by 33%.
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