Ameren Missouri announces plans for solar facility

On Monday, Ameren Missouri announced it planned to acquire the company’s largest-ever solar facility, which it estimates will power thousands of homes.

The Huck Finn Solar Project is 25 times larger than any current solar site in Missouri, the company said. The facility is a 200MW solar installation in central Missouri and is expected to create more than 250 construction jobs.

The facility is expected to produce enough energy to power approximately 40,000 homes and is planned to be constructed on the border of Missouri’s Audrain and Ralls counties. The project is estimated to begin generating clean energy as soon as 2024.

“Developing Huck Finn is good for all of our customers because it provides clean electricity, creates economic opportunity, and injects millions of dollars into the community over the life of the project, which will have widespread additional benefits,” said Mark Birk, chairman and president of Ameren Missouri.

The facility is part of Ameren Missouri’s updated comprehensive plan to safeguard long-term energy reliability and resiliency. The plan would accelerate Ameren’s companywide net-zero carbon emissions goal by five years to 2045.

“We’re focused on the two items customers say are most important to them: reliability and affordability,” Birk said. “The thoughtfully planned additions of renewable generation over time keeps the grid reliable and resilient while also managing costs.”

Huck Finn, the company said, is designed to generate more than 25 times the amount of energy of Missouri’s largest existing solar facility. It is part of the company’s planned addition of 2,800MW in new, clean renewable generation by 2030 and is the ninth solar facility the company has announced or put in service since 2019.