Wisconsin’s newest large-scale solar energy project in Manitowoc County

TWO CREEKS, Wis. (WBAY) - Landowners joined local and state leaders at the ribbon-cutting ceremony on Thursday morning to celebrate the state’s newest large-scale solar energy project, Point Beach Solar Energy Center in the town of Two Creeks.

The facility aims to make Wisconsin more sustainable and green.

“That’s important for the state of Wisconsin. It’s important for our economy to look to clean energy for the children that will be raised in this country, raised in this state and raised in these neighborhoods,” said Preston Cole, Wisconsin DNR Secretary.

WPPI Energy, Two Rivers wholesale energy supplier, and NextEra Energy Resources, the world’s largest producer of wind and solar energy, teamed up to create the Point Beach Solar Energy Center, a project in the works since 2017.

“This project is going to generate nearly $8 million over 20 years for Manitowoc County. That’s dollars for schools, roads, public works projects. As well as this project created over 200 construction jobs during that 10 months over the last year,” said Jeff Bryce, Senior Project Manager, NextEra Energy Resources.

Construction was completed last week. The solar energy center and is now fully operational.

“City of Two Rivers is proud to be part of it. We’ve seen significant economic benefit during construction. Those white contractor pickup trucks were all over town. In a pandemic year, we set a record for room tax revenues last year,” said Greg Buckley, City Manager of Two Rivers.

The project features 315,000 solar panels that convert the sun’s energy into electricity, with the capacity to generate 100 megawatts of electricity.

“This facility is just up the road from Two Rivers. We are already proud of the role that a lot of our local residents play in providing about a sixth of the state’s electrical energy here at the Point Beach Nuclear Plant, and now this addition of the 100 megawatts of solar generating capacity just adds to the importance of Northern Manitowoc County in meeting Wisconsin’s energy needs,” said Buckley.

The addition of the energy means WPPI Energy memberships is on track for a 45% reduction in carbon dioxide emissions by 2025, when compared to 2005.

Copyright 2021 WBAY. All rights reserved.