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Big solar plans abound for Minnesota — but they have hit economic snags

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2 years ago

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Big solar plans abound for Minnesota — but they have hit economic snags


Simply as Minnesota is poised to roll out a number of large-scale photo voltaic tasks, the photo voltaic trade is being battered by an financial storm.

The biggest deliberate photo voltaic plant — Xcel Vitality’s enormous Sherco challenge — is on maintain. A number of others face rising prices, provide chain uncertainties and grid connection issues whereas a federal investigation has primarily shut down very important photo voltaic panel imports.

“Photo voltaic builders are going again to renegotiate contracts as a result of they cannot cowl prices,” stated Betsy Engelking, Edina-based vice chairman for coverage and technique at Nationwide Grid Renewables, a serious U.S. photo voltaic developer.

“That is an industrywide difficulty,” she stated “Even in case you have contracts that cowl prices, you may’t all the time get photo voltaic panels. It is a vicious cycle.”

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Nationwide Grid has three Minnesota tasks — totaling 230 megawatts — which were accredited by state regulators. However development will not start this 12 months, and Nationwide Grid has not allotted scarce panels to any of them.

Seven extra utility-scale tasks of not less than 50 megawatts are pending earlier than the Minnesota Public Utilities Fee (PUC). They’d add one other 1,270 megawatts of solar energy. To place that in perspective, Xcel’s two nuclear vegetation close to Pink Wing can generate 1,050 megawatts (although they can run continuously, not like photo voltaic vegetation).

If all 10 proposed vegetation come on-line, Minnesota would greater than double its present solar energy capability. The growth may additionally shore up the state’s slipping nationwide ranking in photo voltaic deployments.

On the finish of 2021, Minnesota ranked 30th in solar energy capability as measured in megawatts, down from 13th in 2019, in accordance with the Photo voltaic Vitality Industries Affiliation (SEIA), a nationwide commerce group.

Xcel’s Sherco photo voltaic plant deliberate for Becker could be notably massive; at 460 megawatts, it will be greater than 4 instances greater than the state’s present largest photo voltaic array.

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Xcel just lately advised the PUC that whereas nonetheless on board with the challenge, it is “assessing” the consequences of a U.S. Commerce Division investigation into whether or not Chinese language photo voltaic producers are circumventing U.S. tariffs.

“It’s truthful to say we now have paused the method so we will determine the easiest way to maintain the challenge on monitor, and whether or not value changes are obligatory,” stated Christopher Clark, Xcel’s president for Minnesota and the Dakotas. “Proper now, we’re working to see if we will discover panels and hold the unique timeframe.”

Xcel has deliberate to open the Sherco photo voltaic plant in 2024.

Tariff dispute hits trade

On the request of a small U.S. panel producer in California, Auxin Photo voltaic, the Commerce Division in March initiated an investigation into whether or not Chinese language firms had been dodging tariffs by routing photo voltaic panels by way of Cambodia, Vietnam, Thailand and Malaysia.

Former President Donald Trump in 2018 slapped tariffs on photo voltaic panels made in China, the world’s largest panel producer. In February, President Joe Biden prolonged these tariffs for an additional 4 years.

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Southeast Asia itself is a serious producer of photo voltaic panels, and the 4 nations focused within the U.S. tariff investigation account for about 80% of the photo voltaic panels used within the U.S.

If the Commerce Division finds that China routed panels by way of the 4 nations, these panels could be topic to steep — and retroactive — tariffs. The investigation has primarily shut down panel imports from Southeast Asia, photo voltaic trade officers say.

“The photo voltaic investigation is inflicting huge uncertainty for the trade throughout the board,” stated Logan O’Grady, govt director of the Minnesota Photo voltaic Vitality Industries Affiliation, a state commerce group. “No one needs to be caught paying an unknown quantity in tariffs.”

In an April survey by SEIA and consultancy Wooden Mackenzie, 88% of photo voltaic firms in Minnesota believed the investigation could be “extreme” or “devastating” to their companies.

The photo voltaic market tumult impacts rooftop arrays and group photo voltaic gardens in addition to larger-scale utility tasks, which offer electrical energy on to energy producers like Xcel.

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The tariff difficulty “could have a bigger scale influence on utility-scale tasks,” O’Grady stated, as a result of they require much more panels. The Sherco challenge alone requires 1 million photo voltaic panels.

Presently, about 3 % of Minnesota’s electrical energy era comes from photo voltaic. The state’s capability for photo voltaic era — when the solar is shining — was 1,357 megawatts on the finish of 2021, with 63 % of that coming from group photo voltaic gardens, in accordance with the Minnesota Division of Commerce.

The so-called gardens, which often produce 1 megawatt of energy, are geared toward residents, companies and governments that need photo voltaic power with out establishing their very own panels. However development in the neighborhood photo voltaic backyard market is slowing some.

“There was form of a strategy of ramping down that program a bit bit, and ramping up bigger scale tasks,” O’Grady stated.

Two of these massive photo voltaic tasks — one in Murray County, the opposite Faribault County — would generate as much as 150 megawatts of energy and embrace 50 megawatt batteries to retailer electrical energy. They’d be by far the state’s largest grid batteries.

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“A battery permits us to shift photo voltaic era to precisely when the grid needs it,” stated Dan Litchfield, renewable growth vice chairman at Invenergy, which is creating one of many photo voltaic plus storage tasks.

Inflation hits challenge budgets

Effectively earlier than the U.S. Commerce Division investigation, the photo voltaic trade, like many different companies, had been pummeled by provide chain disruptions and inflation.

“We’re taking part in catchup on the provision chain difficulty and there’s no finish in sight,” O’Grady stated.

Inflation for photo voltaic arrays has jumped throughout the board.

“It covers every thing from glass to the metallic for the frames to screws that maintain issues collectively,” O’Grady stated. Plus, excessive gas costs have jacked up transportation prices.

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Photo voltaic costs had been steadily declining for years, till final 12 months.

Yr-over-year costs in 2021 elevated throughout all photo voltaic markets — from residential to utility-scale — for 3 consecutive quarters for the primary time since SEIA and Wooden Mackenzie started monitoring prices in 2014. Utility-scale costs had been as much as 18 % larger than in 2020.

Transmission constraints are additionally a major issue holding up photo voltaic tasks, renewable power builders say.

Wind and photo voltaic farms are sometimes in distant areas that should be related to the grid. Initiatives can await years to get interconnection approval — and sometimes, transmission upgrades are obligatory.

“Proper now, the price of these upgrades are very, very excessive,” stated Nationwide Grid’s Engelking. “There may be simply no room on the present system proper now.”

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Nationwide Grid’s Elk Creek 80-megawatt challenge in southwestern Minnesota has been permitted by the PUC, however it doesn’t but have an interconnection settlement with the Midcontinent Unbiased System Operator, or MISO, which runs the grid in Minnesota and 14 different states.

Attributable to grid system dynamics, the challenge’s interconnection standing is slowed down by a expensive transmission improve wanted within the Southwest Energy Pool, a regional grid simply to the west of MISO.

Litchfield stated Invenergy needed to cancel a promising photo voltaic challenge in southwestern Minnesota due to the price of transmission enhancements. However the Lake Wilson photo voltaic and battery challenge has a grid interconnection settlement that may entail solely minor upgrades.

Builders say that regardless of the photo voltaic trade’s present woes, demand hasn’t dropped. “We see the basics of photo voltaic as very sturdy and getting higher,” Litchfield stated.

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Chicago Bears and Minnesota Vikings Week 12 Game Day Preview

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6 hours ago

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November 24, 2024

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Chicago Bears and Minnesota Vikings Week 12 Game Day Preview


Minnesota Vikings (8-2) at Chicago Bears (4-6)

Kickoff: Noon, Sunday

Where: Soldier Field, Chicago

TV: Fox (Kevin Kugler, Daryl Johnston, Laura Okmin)

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Radio: ESPN AM-1000 (Jeff Joniak, Tom Thayer, Jason McKie)

Spanish Radio: Latino Mix 93.5 FM (Omar Ramos, Miguel Esparza)

The Line: Vikings by 3 1/2, over/under 39 1/2 (Fan Duel).

Chicago Bears On SI Pick: Vikings 23, Bears 8

The Series: The teams meet for the 126th time. The Vikings hold a 66-58-2 series lead. The Bears have lost five of the last six even though they won the last game 12-10 at Minnesota. They are 33-27-2 at home in the series.

The Coaches: Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell owns a 28-17 record in his third season. He is 3-1 against the Bears and 14-8 on the road overall.

Bears coach Matt Eberflus owns a 14-30 record in his third season and a 1-3 mark against Minnesota. The Bears have an 11-12 record in home games under Eberflus.

The Teams: The Bears come off their second walk-off shocker of the season, losing to Green Bay on a blocked Cairo Santos 46-yard field goal try, 20-19, for their fourth straight defeat. They now try to stop Minnesota (8-2), a team surging in second in the NFC North with a three-game winning streak behind QB Sam Darnold and WR Justin Jefferson. They just beat Tennesee 23-13. It’s Bears rookie QB Caleb Williams trying to handle the blitzing scheme of Vikings coordinator Brian Flores and the potent Vikings offense attack a Bears defense reeling a bit after allowing Green Bay’s go-ahead TD in the fourth quarter last week.   

Stat Leaders:  Vikings QB Sam Darnold is 199 of 293 (67.9%) with 2,387 yards, 19 TDs and 10 interceptions for a passer rating of 100.0. The Vikings are led in rushing by RB Aaron Jones, the former Packers back, with 692 yards on 157 carries (4.4 yards per carry) and two TDs. WR Justin Jefferson leads the Vikings in catches (59), receiving yards (912) and TDs (5).  …  LB Ivan Pace leads the Vikings defense in tackles with 59 while OLB Andrew Van Ginkel leads in tackles for loss with a league-high 13 and in sacks with 8.0. S Camryn Bynum has a team-high three interceptions.

For the Bear, QB Caleb Williams is 201 for 325 (61.8%) with nine TDs and five interceptions for a passer rating of 82.5. D’Andre Swift leads the Bears in rushing with 635 yards on 155 atempts and his five rushing TDs is tied with Roschon Johnson for the team lead. WR DJ Moore leads the Bears in receptions with 47 and is tied with Cole Kmet for TD receptions with three. WR Rome Odunze leads in receiving yards with 479. … LB TJ Edwards leads in tackles with 78 and is tied with Montez Sweat for the lead in tackles for loss with five. Gervon Dexter leads in sacks with 4.0 while CB Jaylon Johnson has the lead in interceptions with two.

Injury Report: For the Vikings, TE Josh Oliver (wrist) is out. DL Gabriel Murphy (knee) and TE Nick Muse (hand) are questionable.

For the Bears, G Ryan Bates (concussion) and S Elijah Hicks (ankle) are out. WR Keenan Allen (ankle), T Kiran Amegadjie (calf) and RB D’Andre Swift (groin) are questionable.

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Matching Up: The Vikings are 15th on offense, 13th in passing and 19th in rushing. They are 10th in scoring. Minnesota’s defense is ranked 10th, 28th against the pass and first against the run. They are fourth in points allowed.

The Bears are 29th on offense, 30th passing and 22nd at rushing. They are 22nd in points scored. Chicago’s defense ranks 14th overall, ninth against the pass and 23rd against the run. They are seventh in points allowed.

Of Note:  Williams has not thrown an interception in 146 attempts. … Williams has been sacked a league-high total of 41 times and the Vikings are third in sacks with 35. … The Bears rank No. 1 in red zone defense (40.6%). … Minnesota is plus-4 in turnover differential and the Bears plus-9, but the Vikings are 24-2 under O’Connell in games when they win or are even in turnovers. … Darnold’s total of 19 TD passes is a career high. …  The Bears are 3-1 when they lead at halftime and 1-5 when they trail at halftime. … Matt Eberflus has a 2-8 record for his career in replay challenges including 0-3 this season. …  Opponents have scored first in every single Bears game. … The Bears will have their starting offensive line intact for the first time since Oct. 27 against Washington. They had played together five straight games at that point. … The Vikings defense has two TD returns on interceptions (Van Ginkel) and one fumble return for a TD. … Minnesota is 8-0 this season when it outrushes the opponent. … Darnold is tied for second in passes of 25 yards or more with 24, trailing only Brock Purdy. … Jefferson leads the NFL with 17 catches of 20 yards or more.

BEARS AND VIKINGS FANTASY FOOTBALL FAVORITES AND NFL WEEK 12 PICKS

BEARS AND VIKINGS: WHO WINS AND WHY

REPORT: NO APOLOGY FOR BEARS FROM LEAGUE ON PACKER’ LEGAL BLOCKED KICK

DID JAYLON JOHNSON GET ENOUGH RESPECT FROM JUSTIN JEFFERSON?

Key Individual Matchups

Bears CB Jaylon Johnson vs. Vikings WR Justin Jefferson

There can be little doubt the Bears will put Johnson on Jefferson as much as possible. Johnson has a 65.3 passer rating against and has allowed 57.1% completions (20 of 35) when targeted. He has two interceptions and has allowed no TD passes this year, and three over the last three years after he gave up 10 his first two seasons.  Jefferson has had 81 receiving yards or more in eight games but his yards per game of 91.2 is the lowest it’s been since his rookie season. When targeting Jefferson, QBs have an impressive passer rating of 103.4, but it’s the lowest passer rating when targeted of his career. 

Bears DE Montez Sweat vs. Vikings RT Brian O’Neill

O’Neill has given up one sack this season and is graded the eight-best tackle out of 77 Pro Football Focus rates. He’s rated the eighth best pass blocker and 13th best run blocker among tackles on either side and has been flagged for four penalties, twice for holding, once for a false start and once for illegal formation.  Sweat has been having a difficult time registering sacks since the month of November. He still has 3 ½ sacks and made them all over the course of four straight games.   He has 14 pressures according to Stathead/Pro Football Reference and is well off the pace of last year when he had 40 for the season.

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Bears WR DJ Moore vs. Vikings CB Stephon Gilmore

The 34-year-old, 13-year veteran cornerback for Minnesota is a five-time Pro Bowl player and former defensive player of the year with the Patriots. He is with his sixth team and fifth in five seasons and is posting a solid 85.7 passer rating against with 61.7% completions allowed. He has given up two TDs. Moore is coming off his best game in terms of catches since Week 3 at Indianapolis. He had seven catches for 62 yards, is at 47 catches on 73 targets (64.4%) but is at a career low for average yardage (9.8 per catch). He came into the season averaging more than 14 yards a catch.  

Bears DT Gervon Dexter vs. Vikings LG Blake Brandel

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Brandel is graded 48th of 77 guards by PFF and wasn’t necessarily the intended starter. The 6-foot-7, 315-pounder has been a better pass blocker than run blocker. He’s graded 45th as a run blocker, 34th as a pass blocker. He might not have been starting but Dalton Risner suffered a back injury in training camp and was on IR until early November. Dexter’s ranking as one of the best defensive tackles in pass rush win rate has declined now and he’s 20th after spending most of the season in the top 10. He has gone five straight games without a sack, although he has already broken his rookie mark for QB hits with 14 and tied his rookie mark of 17 pressures. Dexter, who is supposed to be a disruptor in this scheme as a 3-technique, hasn’t had a tackle for loss since the Sept. 29 win over the Rams  and has just three on the year. He replaced Justin Jones this year after the free agent had 22 TFLs in two seasons.

Bears RT Darnell Wright vs. Vikings OLB Andrew Van Ginkel

The 6-4, 242-pound Van Ginkel won’t necessarily rush off the Bears’ right edge all the time. They move him around almost as a wild-card rusher. Sometimes he lines up on the edge and stunts to the middle. He’s always applying pressure from different positions, much the way the Packers did with Clay Matthews. However, it’s usually a starting point over Wright. Van Ginkel’s speed and knowledge of defensive coordinator Brian Flores’ blitzing system make him dangerous, and he has eight sacks with two interceptions. Both went for TD returns.  Wright   is graded 25th best tackle in the league by Pro Football Focus, but as been a better run blocker than pass blocker. He is ninth in run block win rate among all tackles according to ESPN.

Bears LB Tremaine Edmunds vs. Vikings TE TJ Hockenson

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The problem with trying to shut down Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison with zones, like the Bears use, is it often leaves the middle linebacker trying to cover a wider area and the tight end can be open. Edmunds has gradually slid down the linebacker ranking charts after a fast start and is 66th on PFF’s grading out of 82 linebackers.  By Stathead stats, he is having a very solid year defending the pass with a 65.1 passer rating against, very low for a linebacker. He’s been generally less effective against the run. Hockensen will be in his fourth game post-knee surgery and appears ready to make strides. He’ll get used in the seams and underneath the coverage. He has 13 catches for 112 yards in three games. Tight ends have hit the Bears pass defense with some bigger numbers this year, so expect he’ll get looks.

-Odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.

-If you or someone you know has a gambling problem and wants help, call 1-800-GAMBLER

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Twitter: BearsOnSI





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NCAA Division II and III football playoffs: Minnesota State Mankato stuns Augustana in final minutes

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15 hours ago

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November 23, 2024

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NCAA Division II and III football playoffs: Minnesota State Mankato stuns Augustana in final minutes


Matthew Jaeger kicked a 34-yard field goal as time expired as Minnesota State Mankato scored 10 points in the final three minutes to rally for a 20-19 victory over Augustana on Saturday in Sioux Falls, S.D., in the first round of the NCAA Division II playoffs.

The Mavericks had lost to NSIC rival Augustana three times in the past two seasons. It looked glum again Saturday as the Vikings took a 19-10 lead with 3 minutes, 11 seconds remaining on Jake Pecina’s fourth field goal of the game.

Minnesota State started its next possession at its 12-yard line but drove 88 yards in seven plays, capped by Grant Guyett’s 33-yard TD catch from Hayden Ekern and Jaeger’s PAT to pull within 19-17 with 1:35 to play.

The Mavericks’ Lorenzo Jones then recovered an onside kick near midfield. On third-and-4 from the Vikings 39-yard line, Ekern ran 16 yards for a first down at the Vikings 23 with 21 seconds to go. The Mavericks reached the 17-yard line before Jaeger’s final kick.

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Ekern passed for 175 yards and two TDs for the Mavericks, who lost to Augustana 34-16 on Oct. 26 in Mankato.

Richard Agyekum and Joey Goettl each had interceptions which led to 10 points for the Mavericks.

The Mavericks (9-3) will play at Colorado State Pueblo, which had a first-round bye, next week.

Bemidji State 24, Angelo State 14: Connor Carver’s 59-yard TD run with just over two minutes remaining and Isaiah John’s interception with 51 seconds remaining helped the Beavers earn a first-round victory in San Angelo, Texas.



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Preview: Wild vs. Oilers | Minnesota Wild

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23 hours ago

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November 23, 2024

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Preview: Wild vs. Oilers | Minnesota Wild


Last Season on Wild vs. Flames

Minnesota went 2-1-0 against Calgary.

Minnesota won the series-opening contest, 5-2, at Scotiabank Saddledome (12/5), earned a 3-2 shootout victory at Xcel Energy Center in the second matchup (12/14) and fell to the Flames, 3-1, in the series finale in St. Paul (1/2).

LW Matt Boldy led the Wild with four points (3-1=4). C Marco Rossi (1-2=3) had three points and LW Marcus Johansson (0-2=2) had two points. G Filip Gustavsson went 2-0-0 with a 1.92 GAA and a .940 SV% in two starts. G Marc-Andre Fleury was 0-1-0, stopping 30-of-32 shots in the third meeting.

D MacKenzie Weeger led Calgary with four points (0-4=4). LW Yegor Sharangovich had three points (1-2=3). G Dan Vladar went 0-1-1 with a 3.47 GAA and a .896 SV% in two starts. G Jacob Markstrom won his lone start, stopping 28-of-29 shots faced. G Dustin Wolf entered in the second period of the first contest and stopped 11-of-13 shots faced for Calgary.

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