Badger State Solar, LLC on July 30 told the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin that the latest in-service date anticipated for the 149-MW Badger State Solar project is December 2023.
As TransmissionHub reported, according to a final decision with a service date of Feb. 26, 2020, the commission approved — subject to conditions — Badger State Solar’s May 2019 application for a certificate of public convenience and necessity (CPCN) to build the new solar photovoltaic (PV) electric generation facility, which will be a wholesale merchant plant and have a generating capacity of up to 204.9 MW direct current (DC) and up to 149 MW alternating current (AC).
As noted in the commission’s final decision, the project will be located on about 1,203 acres of primarily agricultural land in the townships of Jefferson and Oakland in Jefferson County. The commission added that the major components of the project include the PV panels, power conversion units (PCU), collection lines, and a new 34.5-kV/138-kV collector substation.
The project will use either polycrystalline, monocrystalline, or bi-facial PV modules, the specific model of which is to be evaluated and selected closer to the time of construction, the commission said. The inverters and pad-mounted transformers will be required to convert the generated DC power into AC power and step up the voltage to 34.5 kV, the commission said, adding that the capacity of the PCUs will total up to 149 MW AC. The underground AC collection lines will carry the power generated by the PV panels to the collector substation. The commission added that the collector lines will total about 30 miles, with up to a maximum of five circuits in one trench, and will converge into nine parallel circuits as they approach the project collector substation. A short generator tie line will connect the new collector substation to an existing American Transmission Company (ATC) substation, the commission said.
In its July 30 filing, the company said that construction has not started and is anticipated to begin in 4Q22. No major construction or environmental milestones have occurred as of the end of the reporting period, the company said.
