LIVING HERE
Large enough to power roughly 75,000 households, the Darien Solar project is now delivering electricity to multiple utility customers.
A 250-megawatt solar project located on about 2,000 acres of land in the town of Bradford in Rock County and the town of Darien in Walworth County is now online. The project is located near Highway 14 and Interstate 43 and was developed by Chicago-based Invenergy LLC. The Darien Solar Energy Center has more than 600,000 solar panels. Darien Solar was constructed primarily by Wisconsin labor union members and supported over 400 jobs during peak construction. The project is expected to contribute $145 million in economic activity to the area over its operational life.
The project is planned to later be paired with 75 MW of energy storage expected to come online in 2026. We Energies and Wisconsin Public Service, subsidiaries of WEC Energy Group, own 225 MW of the solar project and 67.5 MW of the upcoming co-located battery energy storage. The project included the planting of prairie grass and local pollinator species to support soil health and wildlife habitats. It is the second major solar project to go online in recent months. The Paris solar project in KeKenosha County went online in December.
