The Marshall Solar Energy Project recently started delivering electricity to Xcel Energy, the second of two large solar facilities that have gone on-line in the past month.
The Marshall solar installation produce up to 62 megawatts of power when the sun is shining. It follows Xcel's first large-scale solar project, North Star in Chisago County, one of the largest Midwest solar arrays at 100 megawatts.
A megawatt is a million watts, and the Marshall project will generate enough power to provide electricity for 15,000 homes. The Marshall solar array covers 355 acres of privately-owned land in Lyon County.
"The Marshall Solar Energy Project puts us on a path to achieve our goal to be 63 percent carbon-free by 2020," Chris Clark, president Xcel -- Minnesota , said in a press statement.
Both new solar facilities deliver power to Xcel under long-term purchase agreements. The Marshall project and North Star are respectively owned and operated by Florida-based NextEra Energy Resources and affiliates of New York-based D.E. Shaw Group.
The two "utility-scale" solar projects together have roughly quadrupled solar energy production in Minnesota since they've come on line over the past month.
