Quick Guide to Siting and Permitting Renewable Energy

Our electric grid is a network of equipment that captures, converts, stores, and delivers power. 

• Generation assets convert other forms of energy into electricity. These include solar, wind, and hydroelectric facilities, as well as non-renewable generation like coal, natural gas, and nuclear power plants.
• Transmission lines move electricity at high voltages, often over long distances.
• Distribution lines make up a more local network that moves lower voltage electricity to end users.
• Substations have transformers to step up or step down the voltage of electricity so it can move between the transmission and distribution systems.
• Batteries store energy for use at a later time. Energy storage is becoming an increasingly important part of our grid.
• Digital and control systems help ensure that there is enough electricity where and when it is needed. Examples include smart meters, sensors, grid management software, and forecasting and automation systems.

Minnesota has rising demand for electricity, and as electric utilities work to meet that demand, they are investing in both energy efficiency and renewable energy. Because of our geography, Minnesota has rich solar and wind resources, especially in the southern and western areas of the state.

As solar and wind technologies have improved and as their cost has declined, the number of projects has increased. The first wind farm cluster in Minnesota was built in the Buffalo Ridge area (northwest of Lake Benton) in 1994. Those first projects were expensive, but by 2011, costs of wind development had dropped dramatically, and wind energy had become the least expensive form of energy generation. The cost of solar development took a little longer to come down, but now has become comparable to the cost of wind development, based on their “levelized cost of energy.”

In Minnesota, the economic case for renewable development is also backed up by policy: Minnesota’s Clean Energy by 2040 Law, signed in 2023, requires electric utilities to provide 100% carbon-free electricity by 2040. The legislation sets interim targets of 80% carbon-free by 2030 (60% for non-investor-owned) and 90% by 2035. 

Track progress toward the targets on the Minnesota Energy Data Dashboard.

The size of renewable energy projects is described by their rated capacity: the rate at which they can produce energy (their power). This is measured in kilowatts (kW) for small projects and megawatts (MW) for large projects. 1 MW = 1000 kW

Small-scale projects:

• The average home solar system is 7-8 kW.
• Many commercial solar systems are 40 kW and are approximately the size of a tennis court.

Large-scale projects:

• A single modern wind turbine can generate 2-6 MW and has a footprint of approximately 1.5 acres.
• A community solar garden can generate up to 5 MW. A utility-scale solar farm might generate 50 MW, 100 MW, or more.
• Most utility-scale projects require 5-10 acres per megawatt, depending on the spacing, types of panels used, and environmental buffers.