A Wisconsin utility is asking state regulators for approval of a novel long-duration energy storage project that it plans to build at the site of a coal plant set to shut down in two years.
Long-duration battery storage is seen as key to enabling a greater reliance on renewable energy and dispatching electricity at times when it’s needed. Most grid-scale batteries today can dispatch energy for about four hours at a time.
In the Wisconsin Public Service Commission filing, Alliant Energy said the project, the first of its kind in North America, would help “align intermittent wind and solar generation with variable customer load, improve reliability, and enable the grid to accommodate more renewable generation resources.”
“Currently available renewable net-zero generation resources occasionally experience multi-day dips in generation,” the filing said. Alliant and its partners “anticipate that [long-duration energy storage] will bridge this gap.”
