Alliant Energy says it will invest $750 million in 400 megawatts of solar power generation and 75 megawatts of battery storage in eastern Iowa, making it the state's largest solar project to date.
Wisconsin-based Alliant, through its Iowa subsidiary Interstate Power & Light Co., expects to file a plan Tuesday with the Iowa Utilities Board stating its intent to acquire a planned 200-megawatt installation, part of which would be on the grounds of the Duane Arnold nuclear power plant. The plant, in Palo northwest of Cedar Rapids, is being decommissioned.
Alliant is still assessing where the remaining 200 megawatts of generation capacity would be constructed, Terry Kouba, president of Cedar Rapids-based Interstate Power & Light, told the Des Moines Register.
All 400 megawatts likely would be developed at about the same time, said Ben Lipari, director of project development for Alliant. The Wisconsin-based investor-owned energy provider said 200 megawatts of solar and battery storage is expected to be ready by the end of 2024.
“This is good for our customers, the communities we serve and the environment while powering tens of thousands of homes with solar energy,” Mayuri Farlinger, director of operations at Alliant Energy, said in a statement. “In addition, these projects assure our customers we have a diverse mix of reliable energy generation to meet their ongoing demands.”
The 400 megawatts that Alliant has committed to building would be the state's largest solar project, said Morgan Hawk, an Alliant spokesman.
Once it's complete, about half of Alliant's energy would come from renewable sources, which already include 1,300 megawatts of wind energy, Kouba told the Register.
MORE: Iowa, a leader in wind energy, will see a burst of solar development in coming months.
MidAmerican Energy, Iowa's other large investor-owned utility, has invested heavily in wind, which provides about 80% of its power generation. The Des Moines-based company said this year it's also investing in about 140 megawatts of solar generation.
NextEra Energy Resources owns the Duane Arnold nuclear power plant, along with Central Iowa Power Cooperative and Corn Belt Power Cooperative. Conlan Kennedy, a NextEra spokesman, said the company plans to build the Alliant solar and storage facility in two phases. The first phase, on the plant site, would provide 50 megawatts of generation. The second would add 150 megawatts and the storage facility on 815 acres leased from private landowners.
NextEra has said it ultimately is interested in building three projects near the Duane Arnold site that could generate 690 megawatts of solar energy.
Wind energy running into roadblocks; solar could provide another route for renewables
Iowa utilities are investing heavily in renewable energy. The state got nearly 60% of its energy from wind last year, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
But as wind farms have grown across the state, new projects have run into opposition, with lawsuits and moratoriums citing noise, health concerns and visual blight. More recently, Iowa farmers and landowners have expressed concern that solar projects are taking farmland out of production.
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But Alliant also has found some landowners want to "farm solar versus whatever other crops that they farmed previously," Lipari said, adding that residents can choose to bring the "revitalized land and soil" back into production at the end of the project's life in 30 to 35 years.
In addition, he said, the utilities that own the Duane Arnold plant have "very few options for repurposing" the former nuclear site.
Alliant said the 200 megawatts of solar and storage projects will create about 200 construction jobs and have an economic impact of $260 million.
Kouba said the projects won't cost Alliant customers extra, and they're expected to save an estimated $300 million when compared to power generation costs without the renewable energy.
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Lipari said solar combined with battery storage is a "cost-effective way to meet the demands of our customers' energy needs and ensure safe and reliable service for consumers," providing renewable energy when the sun doesn't shine and the wind doesn't blow.
"The cost to install solar has decreased dramatically over the last five to 10 years," Lipari said. "Likewise, the utility battery storage technology costs have declined significantly in the last 10 years."
Kouba said the announcement is a major step in the utility's clean energy plan.
Alliant, which serves 490,000 customers in Iowa, including in Cedar Rapids, Dubuque, Iowa City and Ames, said it plans to cut in half carbon dioxide emissions over the next decade and to reach "net-zero carbon dioxide emissions" from electric generation by 2050. Alliant plans to eliminate all coal-fired power generation by 2040.
Donnelle Eller covers agriculture, the environment and energy for the Register. Reach her at [email protected] or 515-284-8457.