Project facilities to be located in Lee County

(Des Moines) – The Iowa Utilities Board (IUB) today issued an order granting a certificate of public convenience, use and necessity to Interstate Power and Light Company, a subsidiary of Alliant Energy (Alliant), for a solar electric generating facility and battery energy storage system (BESS) project to be located in Lee County, Iowa.

Alliant filed its application on October 31, 2022, in Docket No. GCU-2022-0003 for a proposed solar generating facility totaling up to 150 megawatts (MW) and an associated 75 MW BESS project. The proposed project area consists of approximately 925 acres within a 2,685-acre area of agricultural land near the unincorporated community of Wever.

Alliant anticipates the project area will consist of the solar array system and associated electric generating equipment, with approximately five acres designed for the BESS project to be located adjacent to the collector substation. The solar project will connect to inverters, which will connect to a collector substation in the southwest corner of the project, and connect through a generation tie-in transmission line to the ITC Midwest LLC Wever substation. The BESS project will also connect to the collector substation.

The certificate will be limited to the 150 MW solar generating facility and the 75 MW BESS proposed by Alliant. Any increase to the total generation capacity or the addition of a storage facility, or transfer of the certificate to another entity, will require Alliant to file for an amendment to the certificate. 

As conditions to the certificate, Alliant is required to provide a report describing the final plan designs as soon as they exist, a flood mitigation plan, a glint and glare report, the completed road use agreement with Lee County, a report detailing the BESS interconnection, final project costs, and the final safety and emergency response plan for the BESS.  The order also specifies that if the project is not completed within two years, the certificate will expire and Alliant will be required to submit a new petition with the IUB.

The order acknowledges that all landowners approved and consented to the use of their land for the proposed project through voluntary easement agreements and Alliant did not seek eminent domain.

Documents regarding Alliant’s solar facility and BESS project are available for review in the IUB’s electronic filing system under Docket No.GCU-2022-0003.