Wisconsin Utilities Propose Large-Scale Battery Projects

Tuesday, October 11th, 2022 -- 11:00 AM

(By Danielle Kaeding, Wisconsin Public Radio) Wisconsin utilities have proposed a handful of large-scale battery projects, and the Inflation Reduction Act provides new incentives for energy storage.

According to Danielle Kaeding with Wisconsin Public Radio, even so, supply chain constraints and challenges with connecting those projects to the grid may delay their expansion statewide.

Madison-based Alliant Energy recently announced it will spend $354 million to add 175 megawatts of battery storage. The two projects are linked to solar systems being built in Wood and Grant counties.

Those projects are part of Alliant’s plans to build 1.1 gigawatts of solar systems approved by the Wisconsin Public Service Commission last year. The two battery projects combined could store enough energy to power more than 180,000 homes for four hours.

And, the recently passed Inflation Reduction Act will make it easier to build stand-alone projects, according to Rick Zimmerman, Alliant’s manager of resource development. The law extended the investment tax credit for solar systems for up to 30 percent of the cost of equipment installations for the next decade.

But, it also extended that incentive for stand-alone energy storage projects for the first time, which previously only applied to storage paired with solar systems. "It just gives us a greater flexibility of where to site our battery and how we can use it," said Zimmerman.

Alliant’s plans are part of the utility’s Clean Energy Blueprint that’s expected to save customers between $2 billion and $6.5 billion over the next 35 years. The utility plans to reach net-zero emissions by 2050 as part of the clean energy transition and efforts to combat climate change.

Just five years ago, some utility executives remained wary of the effectiveness of battery storage and their costs, but that’s changing. A September report by Wood Mackenzie and the American Clean Power Association found grid-scale installations of battery storage represented a quarterly record of 1,170 megawatts.

"We see a lot more in the approval process right now than we've seen in years past," said Zimmerman. "We're looking at other battery opportunities too." However, supply chain issues and transportation delays, along with challenges tying into the power grid, slowed or canceled more than 1.1 gigawatts of projects nationwide in the second quarter of this year.

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