Combines and tractors have been replaced by excavators and dump trucks, as work has begun on a natural gas peaking plant north of Garvin
What was once a field full of corn or soybeans — a landscape staple in rural Minnesota — is now a massive construction site that in a couple years will serve as a key piece in the State’s focus on renewable energy.
Workers from Meyer Contracting out of Maple Grove last month started moving dirt at the site. Two access roads have been created off of Hwy. 14 in preparation for the start of construction on a 420-megawatt generating station, which Xcel Energy said will play a critical role in supplying reliable power to the grid during periods when wind and solar energy are not available, and when the hottest and coldest temperatures of the year drive energy use up. Peaking plants do not continuously generate energy at full capacity; instead, they operate for a small portion of the year based on the needs of the grid, XCel says.
The energy provided by the natural gas-fired power plant supports Xcel’s larger plan to retire its remaining coal plants by the end of 2030 while keeping the grid reliable.
A CONCEPTUAL LOOK at the future Lyon County Generating Station to be built just north of Garvin off Hwy. 14 Xcel image
Once complete in 2028, the roughly 175-mile Minnesota Energy Connection transmission line will carry electricity generated in southwest Minnesota to the existing electric grid at Xcel Energy’s Sherco site in Becker. The line will deliver enough energy to power more than 1 million homes across the Upper Midwest.
The Lyon County Generating Station will also provide grid stability for the upcoming Minnesota Energy Connection transmission line, which will connect up to 4,000 megawatts of new wind and solar in southwest Minnesota to the existing electric grid at the Sherco Energy Hub in Becker. The transmission line will deliver enough energy to power more than 1 million homes in the region and across the Upper Midwest.
The natural gas plant represents a significant investment in southwest Minnesota and the regional electric system, Xcel said, including an estimated $300 million in property taxes over the life of the plant.
Construction on the Lyon County Generating Station is scheduled to begin late this summer, with the facility going online in late 2028.
