Madison Gas and Electric (MGE), in partnership with We Energies and Wisconsin Public Service (WPS), subsidiaries of WEC Energy Group, has received approval from the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin to purchase solar energy and battery storage from the Koshkonong Solar Energy Center.
MGE will own 30 MW of solar energy and 16.5 MW of battery storage from the facility located in the towns of Christiana and Deerfield in Dane County.
“The Koshkonong Solar Energy Center continues the progress we’ve already made reducing carbon emissions, increasing cost-effective renewable energy and advancing new technologies to benefit all our customers,” says Jeff Keebler, MGE chairman, president and CEO. “We are working aggressively to reduce our carbon emissions at least 80% from 2005 levels by the end of this decade and achieve net-zero carbon electricity by 2050.”
The project will include a 300-MW solar array and a 165-MW battery storage system. It is expected to generate enough clean energy to power about 90,000 households. MGE’s share of the output will power about 9,000 households.
We Energies and WPS will own the remaining 270 MW of the output and 148.5 MW of battery storage from the project. Invenergy LLC is the project developer. The Koshkonong Solar Energy Center is estimated to begin serving customers in late 2025.
The Koshkonong Solar Energy Center is one of three announced investments by MGE in large-scale solar energy and battery storage. MGE also will own a 10% share of the Paris Solar-Battery Park and the Darien Solar Energy Center, both of which are under construction.