Pine Bend Solar Array

Pine Bend Refinery, in Rosemount, MN, supplies the majority of Minnesota’s and much of the Upper Midwest’s gasoline, diesel and jet fuel, as well as heating fuels, asphalt, fertilizer, and the chemical building blocks used in thousands of everyday products.

Immediately adjacent and connecting directly to the refinery, Hunt Electric constructed a 45-Mw solar installation that includes over 100,000 panels across 300 acres.

The project is the US’ largest single-site use of direct solar power upon completion of the build and has a peak-energy production capacity to satisfy roughly 30% of the refinery’s 135-Mw power needs.  That produces enough electricity to power the equivalent of more than 8,400 homes per year.

Like any construction project, this one was not without it’s challenges.  The solar modules are built in Turkey, and due to a recent earthquake, the modules were delivered several months late.  Hunt actively stayed ahead of this by communicating openly with the developer to executive innovative ways to stay on schedule.

“This is an extraordinary project and exciting opportunity to demonstrate how solar can be seamlessly integrated into a large industrial facility with a high, consistent power demand, reliably and at a lower cost than conventional, retail power,” said Justin Bloch, DEPCOM’s president of solar, said in a statement.