Amir SohailChicago, (ZEEST MEDIA) — Nexamp, the nation’s largest fully integrated distributed generation and community solar provider, and TurningPoint Energy, a leading community solar and energy storage developer, celebrated the successful commissioning of two community solar projects in Minonk, Illinois, with a ribbon cutting ceremony on the reclaimed former coal mine site in Woodford County. Together, the two solar farms transform legacy fossil fuel land into a long-term source of clean, reliable energy for area residents, businesses, and institutions.
The two Minonk community solar projects have a combined capacity of 9.8 Megawatts (MWdc) and together utilize 16,950 solar panels across roughly 40 acres, sending energy directly to the ComEd grid. Both are powered by 100% U.S.-manufactured modules, underscoring a shared commitment to domestic clean energy supply chains and local job creation.
Built above a former mine that extracted from the Colchester Coal Seam for approximately 75 years in the late 1800s and early 1900s, the projects are certified brownfield sites under the Illinois Shines program, earning credits for returning previously disturbed land to productive use. They also represent the first Illinois Shines community solar development in Woodford County. This milestone reflects the county’s leadership in embracing shared solar as a path to economic development and environmental restoration.
“Standing on this former coal site today and seeing it continue its role in powering our communities is a powerful symbol of Illinois’ energy future,” said State Senator Chris Balkema. “This Minonk community solar project demonstrates how we can build on our energy heritage while embracing new opportunities. I support an all-of-the-above energy strategy that includes coal, natural gas, nuclear, solar, wind, and emerging technologies—because affordable, reliable energy is essential for lowering costs for families, attracting investment, and supporting quality jobs right here in Woodford County.”
“For generations before us, this land represented our community’s role in powering Illinois with fossil fuels; today, it represents our role in powering Illinois with the clean energy of the future,” added Minonk Mayor Russell Ruestman. “Additionally, I am proud that these projects can deliver savings to local residents and institutions, make productive use of a former coal site, and demonstrate what’s possible when public and private partners work together.”
The Minonk projects are among the first in ComEd’s system to incorporate Distributed Energy Resource Management Systems (DERMS), a smart grid technology that monitors and manages distributed energy resources in real time. By integrating DERMS across both community solar arrays, the projects help ComEd more effectively balance load, manage variability, and enable clean energy to flow more smoothly on the grid, supporting reliability as Illinois continues to scale up renewable generation.
“We have been grateful to collaborate with Nexamp on one of the first projects on our system to use DERMs, which supports more flexible and efficient interconnection of community solar,” said Mark Baranek, Senior Vice President, Technical Services, ComEd. “Nexamp continues to demonstrate its ability to innovate as it creates greater access to renewable energy throughout Illinois.”
The two Minonk community solar projects are nearly fully subscribed, with more than 650 unique participants demonstrating strong local and regional interest in shared renewable energy. One project serves approximately 450 residential customers, while the second includes approximately 200 low-income residential subscribers, expanding access to clean energy savings for historically underserved households. The projects also feature two prominent institutional anchor subscribers: Rush University Medical Center and the College of DuPage. Together, these two institutions account for 40 percent of the combined projects’ total offtake, providing a stable foundation that helps enable broader community participation.
“If we’re truly committed to improving health outcomes, we have to look beyond our hospital walls,” said Ian Hughes, Director of Environmental Sustainability at Rush. “Community solar is preventative medicine—it reduces harmful emissions, improves the air quality in vulnerable communities, and moves us closer to the healthier, more sustainable future our patients deserve.”
Developed by TurningPoint Energy and built, owned and operated by Nexamp, these Minonk projects are the first collaboration between the two companies in Illinois. Together, they represent a significant addition to the state’s solar generating capacity and contribute to Illinois’ long-term goal of replacing 100 percent of its existing energy sources with renewable energy by 2050. The projects were constructed using prevailing wage labor, with qualified laborers on site throughout the build, ensuring that the economic benefits of the clean energy transition are shared with skilled workers and local communities.
“This is exactly the kind of project we aspire to deliver with our partners and our customers,” noted Zaid Ashai, CEO, Nexamp. “By turning a former coal mine into a pair of community solar farms, we are helping hundreds of subscribers reduce their energy costs today while strengthening their energy security for the long term. By pairing that affordability with U.S.-manufactured equipment and advanced grid tools like DERMS, these Minonk projects not only put clean power within reach for households and institutions, they also show how community solar can make the grid smarter, more resilient, and better prepared for Illinois’ clean energy future.”
“The successful completion of the Minonk community solar projects reflects both the strength of our partnership with Nexamp and the role community solar must play in meeting Illinois’ long-term energy objectives,” said Salar Naini, President of TurningPoint Energy. “By transforming a former coal site into a long-term clean energy resource, we are demonstrating how smart policy, private investment, and experienced development partners can work together to repurpose legacy energy assets into solutions that advance affordability, reliability, and decarbonization.”
About Nexamp
Nexamp is transforming the new energy economy with proven solar and storage solutions, and inviting individuals, communities, and businesses to take part in the benefits. Our end-to-end capabilities—including project development and acquisition, design, construction, and asset management—uniquely position Nexamp to accelerate the transition to a cleaner domestic grid. By building integrated clean energy infrastructure, we ensure that both savings and job opportunities reach everyday Americans. With nearly 1.5 GW of renewable energy-generating assets currently in operation and several more gigawatts under construction or in development, we’re building a cleaner and more resilient future. Visit us at www.nexamp.com.
About TurningPoint Energy
TurningPoint Energy is a privately held clean energy development, advisory and investment company with over 1.5 Gigawatts (GW) of large‑scale solar, community solar, and energy storage projects operating or under development across the United States. Our team adapts to each client’s needs and finds ways to invest in our clients and their communities…at every turning point. For more information, please visit turningpoint-energy.com.
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