Northern Indiana Public Service Co. is continuing its journey toward utilizing cleaner and renewable energy sources.

Inovateus Solar of South Bend recently completed three solar projects for NIPSCO, the first installations for the utility, and include a ground-mount solar array at its Merrillville headquarters. Inovateus Solar also achieved zero-waste construction by recycling equipment packaging and avoiding any construction waste being sent to landfills.

“We’re proud of these projects for two reasons,” said Tyler Kanczuzewski, Inovateus’ vice president of marketing and sustainability. “First, many of our employees are NIPSCO customers, so they, their families, and the entire Northern Indiana community are now benefiting from NIPSCO’s transition to cleaner resources to save energy and money (and) second, these are our company’s first zero-waste solar projects.”

According to Inovateus, a 120-kilowatt array with 432 solar panels was installed at NIPSCO’s Merrillville headquarters and will generate 216,958-kilowatt hours of clean power annually. Another system with 360 panels was installed at the company’s LaPorte local operating office, and a similar-sized system was installed at its Valparaiso site.

Each solar array will produce 181,841 kWh of solar power per year, Inovateus said. In total, the three installations will provide enough carbon-free power to offset the equivalent of planting more than 10,000 pine trees each year they are in service.

NIPSCO recently announced plans to retire its remaining coal-fired electric generating stations by 2028 as part of its Your Energy, Your Future initiative.

NIPSCO serves about 835,000 natural gas and 473,000 electric customers across Northern Indiana.