(KNSI) – Xcel Energy says in a statement Tuesday that it has filed a Certificate of Need to build what it’s calling the Minnesota Energy Connection transmission line.
The utility has already released details about the proposal, which would link wind energy in the southwest part of the state with a hookup to the grid at the Sherco Plant. Xcel intends to wind down the coal-fired plant by the end of the decade, replacing it with a large solar farm and the transmission line to renewable power elsewhere. The company says as much as 2,000 megawatts of energy would flow through the site, enough to power one million homes.
Specifics are still vague. Xcel hopes to nail down a route for the transmission line by the fall of 2024. It would span between 160 and 180 miles, depending on buy-in from landowners. That would allow construction to begin in late 2025 and completion of the Minnesota Energy Connection by 2028.
The total cost is expected to top $1 billion.
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