MidAmerican Energy has completed its 100-megawatt Holliday Creek solar array, the company’s largest of six inaugural solar projects that it began placing online starting in January.
The Webster County project’s 265,000 solar panels can generate enough electricity to power the equivalent of 19,000 average Iowa homes.
The six solar energy sites range from 3 MW to 100 MW. In addition to the Webster County site, MidAmerican added arrays in Adair, Franklin, Johnson and Woodbury counties, and in the city of Waterloo.
“This year opens up a new chapter for us in MidAmerican’s growing renewable energy fleet that delivers clean, low-cost, sustainable domestic energy to our customers,” said Mike Fehr, senior vice president of renewable generation and compliance in a news relase.
MidAmerican operates the largest wind energy fleet of any investor-owned utility in the nation. Through the company’s GreenAdvantage program, which applies to all MidAmerican electric customers in Iowa at no additional cost to them, the company enables every customer to claim a verified renewable energy amount, which in 2021, was 88.5%.
“Our latest and largest solar array is a timely addition to our renewables fleet,” Fehr said. “When our customers use their air conditioners to keep cool on hot and sunny summer afternoons, solar energy is typically at or near its greatest output. When coupled with our wind fleet, MidAmerican’s customers receive the benefits of renewable energy throughout the year.”
MidAmerican’s proposed Wind PRIME project would raise MidAmerican’s GreenAdvantage figure to 100% by enabling the company to provide renewable energy equal to its Iowa customers’ annual usage upon completion in 2025. The project, which is pending before the Iowa Utilities Board, would add more than 2,000 megawatts of wind generation and 50 megawatts of solar energy.