Preparation work continues at Lansing battery energy storage site

After receiving approval from the Iowa Utilities Commission and permits from the Allamakee County Board of Supervisors, Alliant Energy began construction earlier this spring on a large battery energy storage system (BESS) in Lansing. The new battery facility will sit on the site of Alliant’s former Lansing Generating Station south of Lansing, which the company retired in 2023 after operating for more than 70 years. Alliant Energy selected the site to support reliable energy for customers and the community.

WHAT IS A BESS?
A battery energy storage system (BESS) is a large collection of batteries connected directly to the power grid. These facilities, like the one pictured in the photo accompanying this article recently built in the small town of Wever in Lee County in southeast Iowa, store energy at night when demand is low and release it during the day when demand is high. Alliant Energy officials say this helps the company meet customer needs, reduces the need for traditional grid upgrades and strengthens reliability during outages and severe weather.

The Lansing site is the second such large BESS location for Alliant Energy in the state of Iowa, with the Wever site that became operational in February of this year being the other, although the Wever site differs in that it is tied into an adjacent solar panel field and the Lansing site will be independent of any large source of solar or wind-generated electricity. Alliant Energy also has two larger BESS locations operational in the state of Wisconsin, with a third one set to go online very soon.

“The purpose of these BESS projects is to draw power from the grid at extreme low-use times, such as at night when it’s cheaper to do so, and when demand spikes, such as during the heat of summer or cold of winter, these batteries can put that energy back on grid,” explained Adam Sodersten, Senior Communications Specialist with Alliant Energy. “Projects like this help us make sure we have the energy available when customer demand increases.”

CONSTRUCTION TIMELINE
Residents of the Lansing area are currently seeing increased truck traffic, specifically through Lansing’s historic downtown, bringing gravel from nearby quarries. Gravel is necessary to grade the site ahead of pouring concrete pads for the battery storage system. Alliant Energy expects this gravel hauling phase to wrap up near the start of summer.

Concrete delivery will then begin, mostly on a route that avoids downtown Lansing. The roughly 200 batteries that will be utilized at the site will likely arrive on-site near the end of summer, also on a route that avoids downtown Lansing, according to Sodersten.

Further Alliant Energy documentation shares that once the batteries have been installed on the site, further preparation to get the battery storage location operational will take the project into the Spring of 2027. Plans are to bring the site fully online and make it operational within the area electrical grid in the Spring of 2027.

PROPER PREPARATION
While those advancements and additions are being made at the site, work also continues with the handling and disposal of existing soil that contains remnants of coal ash from the energy source that once powered the former generating station at the site. Sodersten explained that the process of soil removal and replacement with gravel at the site go somewhat hand-in-hand, with a geologist on site to make sure any contaminated soil is handled properly and removed to a level where the new battery storage system will not be sitting on any contaminated soil.

Sodersten also said that the soil containing coal ash has been removed and stockpiled at the Lansing site as part of an overall disposal process that will eventually take that affected soil to a coal ash land fill owned and operated by Alliant Energy and under the permitted oversight of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and other entities. That stockpiling and coverage of the contaminated soil with other dirt on site is all part of the required handling process before that soil will be hauled away from the site, perhaps taking place even after the battery storage system is operational, according to Sodersten.

With the higher level of truck traffic hauling both into and out of the Lansing site, Sodersten said Alliant Energy has been working with officials at the state, county and city levels to not only minimize the impact that the additional truck traffic has on local traffic patterns and roadways, but to also make sure those roadways are taken care of. “I know we’re utilizing county gravels and state, county and city paved roadways for this project, and we want to make sure those roads are in the same condition as they were prior to when we began the project,” Sodersten shared.

As part of an overall zoning ordinance amendment passed by the Allamakee County Board of Supervisors in regard to battery energy storage systems, Alliant Energy was required to provide a Public Roads Damage Avoidance and Mitigation Plan for approval prior to beginning construction on the Lansing site project. That plan required identification of roadways being utilized as part of the overall preparation and operation of the battery storage system, allows for documentation of conditions of those roads by the Allamakee County Engineer prior to the start of the project and within 30 days after construction is completed, and maintenance and/or repair of those roadways being utilized within a nine-month timeframe, as well as any emergency repairs determined by the Allamakee County Engineer necessary to restore daily traffic, all at the expense of the project owner.

Sodersten also said that what makes this project even more unique is that it’s taking place on land already owned by Alliant Energy. “We are repurposing that land to help continue to serve our customers,” he noted. “We’re continuing to use that site that had previously served customers for more than 70 years, and we’re using it in a responsible manner that we feel is in the best interest of serving our customers. Lansing is a community that has taken care of us for decades, and we have always tried to do the same. It’s a community we want to continue to be a part of and contribute to in a very positive manner.”

Alliant Energy will continue to provide project updates as the BESS project advances at the Lansing site. For more information on the project, interested parties can also visit www.alliantenergy.com/our-energy/energy-storage/lansing.

“Alliant Energy is committed to keeping Lansing-area residents informed and minimizing the impact of its construction work,” Alliant Energy Communication officials shared in a further released statement. “The company looks forward to bringing this BESS facility online in early 2027 as it continues to provide safe, cost-effective, reliable energy to its customers.”