West of Mpls MN about 50 miles on Hwy 12 | There are a lot of solar farms around here. Excel Energy is currently taking down the aging center pivots and wells and replacing them with solar panels on about 3,000 acres of what some people would call "prime farmland" I custom harvested seed and sweet corn off of not so long ago. This project will have up to 460-MW alternating current nameplate capacity when complete.
Without a lot of irrigation this "prime farmland" won't even grow decent grass. Planting solar panels on the land is a better use for the land than further expanding the coal bottom ash mountain onto it from Excel's neighboring coal fired generator or build more houses on it like is happening to neighboring farms in the area IMO.
I personally think the MANY trainloads of ash and heavy metals the ash mountain contains should be hauled back to the hole from where it was mined at the rate of four trainloads per day like the coal that is hauled in, but I'm sure that process would cost Excel Energy customers...and MN tax payers a small fortune.
Edited by CMN 9/26/2023 10:58
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Solar
