Mercury Marine partners with Alliant Energy to build solar array

Mercury Marine announced a partnership with Alliant Energy to build a 5-megawatt, 32-acre solar array in eastern Fond du Lac County to advance the company’s sustainability initiatives and the region’s growing commitment to renewable energy.

The Ledgeview Solar Project, pending review and approval by the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin in the coming months, is the first to be developed under Alliant Energy’s Renewable Energy Partner program. The project will offset 10% of the electricity Mercury uses on its Fond du Lac campus.

“This solar project is good for Mercury, the Fond du Lac community and the environment,” said Chris Drees, Mercury Marine president. “Our investment in this solar infrastructure, combined with our other solar investments, will provide clean, renewable energy and propel us toward our goal to derive 50% of our electricity usage from renewable sources by the end of 2030.”

The project will include more than 12,000 solar panels generating enough electricity to power approximately 1,300 homes annually. The array will be located on privately-owned land in eastern Fond du Lac County, south of Highway 23 and just east of County Road UU.

Construction on the project is anticipated to start in spring 2023 with operation to begin in October 2023. The project is being developed and constructed by OneEnergy Renewables out of their regional office in Madison, Wisconsin.

The Ledgeview Solar Project is the latest in a series of investments by Mercury to embrace emissions-free energy, both at home and across the globe.  

In January 2021, Mercury made fully operational a rooftop array of 320 photovoltaic solar panels at its Fond du Lac world headquarters. The array was Mercury’s first in the U.S. and will generate enough power to light a warehouse operation on the Fond du Lac campus for the next 30 years.

Mercury launched its first solar project in 2017 with the installation of a 2,000‑panel array at the company’s European headquarters in Petit Rechain, Belgium. That solar array, combined with improved insulation at the location, reduces the amount of electricity the facility draws from the grid by 33%, thus lowering the facility’s utilities costs and enabling substantial use of clean and sustainable energy.

Alliant Energy’s Renewable Energy Partner program helps commercial and industrial customers achieve their sustainability goals. Mercury will directly benefit from renewable generation without having to commit resources to the planning, development and operation of the project.

“Alliant Energy is proud to assist Mercury Marine as it undertakes this transformative clean energy initiative,” said Barbara Tormaschy, senior vice president of sustainability and regulatory strategy for Alliant Energy. “The Renewable Energy Partner program ensures our commercial customers can offset their energy use with safe, reliable, and clean electricity for decades to come.”