SunVest, We Energies, Milwaukee Mayor Energize City’s Largest Solar Array
Built on a capped landfill adjacent Mitchell International Airport, the 6.85-megawatt site now powers 80 city buildings with 100% renewable energy
MILWAUKEE, WI – Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson joined SunVest, We Energies and other project partners for a ribbon-cutting ceremony on September 10th marking the completion of an expanded solar array near Mitchell International Airport. Built on a former city landfill directly adjacent to the airport, the project is now the largest solar installation in city history and triples Milwaukee’s total solar power generation.
The 4.6-megawatt array expands on a solar farm SunVest built on the property in 2021, bringing the site’s total capacity to 6.85 megawatts. We Energies owns the site, while SunVest engineered and built the new expansion under the utility’s state-approved Renewable Pathway Program.
“With the completion of this project, 80 city buildings are now powered by 100% renewable energy,” said Mayor Cavalier Johnson. Most of those buildings are fire stations, libraries and police stations.
“We Energies has been a long-standing partner for SunVest, and this project is a great example of what that partnership can accomplish,” said Bram Walters, CEO of SunVest. “We’re proud to keep building on this relationship with We Energies for years to come.”
Building on a capped landfill next to an airport brought engineering demands most solar projects never encounter, from unique coordination with the Air National Guard to rare design requirements. Because the cap cannot be penetrated with conventional piles, crews couldn’t anchor the array into the ground the way they normally would.
“This was a fun yet challenging site for the company,” said Senior Project Manager Dave Mason, “We designed a ballasted racking system for the project — the panels are held in place by weight rather than being anchored into the ground, which let us build the array on top of the landfill without ever compromising the cap underneath it.”
About SunVest
SunVest is a leading vertically integrated developer and owner-operator of distributed energy infrastructure across North America. Founded in 2009 and headquartered in Chicago, SunVest has developed and built more than 600 megawatts of projects and is advancing a nearly 3-gigawatt pipeline of distributed solar and energy storage assets. The company combines deep capabilities across development, financing, construction, and operations to originate, execute, and own high-quality energy infrastructure at scale.
