Kohler Lands Clean Energy Grant at $300M Casa Grande Plant

Kohler Co. has secured a $51.2 million federal grant designed to limit its carbon footprint at its Casa Grande manufacturing site. With the grant, Kohler plans to: replace natural gas boilers with electric boilers, install a 21MW solar array microgrid, utilize long-duration energy storage (LDES) batteries with 68MWh of storage, and install 12MW of HVO-capable KOHLER industrial backup generators. The LDES batteries, coupled with advanced microgrid controls, eliminate all possible solar curtailment scenarios and enable the facility to run the boilers on renewable energy while performing solar smoothing, thereby reducing carbon emissions.

The company is close to completing its one-million-square-foot manufacturing plant, ancillary warehouse and office space across 216 acres in Casa Grande. It’s expected to be operational by mid-2024 and cost $300 million to build.

Its plumbing manufacturing facility, the company’s largest in North America, will support 400 new full-time jobs with room for future expansion.