I&M’s Twin Branch Solar Power Plant goes live

Indiana Michigan Power’s (I&M) newest solar power facility, the Twin Branch Solar Power Plant, went live on Thursday, doubling I&M’s solar generating capacity to more than five megawatts of clean, carbon-free energy for its customers in Indiana and Michigan.

“I&M is very proud to enhance the South Bend area with yet another form of carbon-emission free energy,” I&M President and CEO Paul Chodak III said. “Adding energy from the Twin Branch Solar plant to our area distribution system is another step toward boosting I&M’s use of renewables.”

The Twin Branch plant is located near Mishawaka, Indiana, just north of the AM General factory. It is one of four solar facilities commissioned by I&M. The Deer Creek plant near Marion, Indiana, went live in 2015, with the New Carlisle and Watervliet plants in Indiana and Michigan expected to be operational later this year. The plants are expected to have a combined generating capacity of approximately 15 megawatts, enough to power 2,000 homes annually.

The solar plants are part of I&M’s Clean Energy Solar Pilot Project – an effort to diversify the utility’s energy portfolio. The project also includes nuclear, hydro, coal and wind energy. Through the project, I&M was able to generate 60 percent of its energy in 2015 from non-carbon-emitting fuels.