Alliant Energy, Iowa State University to develop solar farm

Alliant Energy and Iowa State University said Thursday they plan to build a solar farm on university land south of Ames.

Madison, Wisc.-based Alliant will design, construct, own, operate and maintain the solar farm.

The Iowa Board of Regents approved the request.

“This new collaboration is the latest in our long-standing partnership with Alliant Energy to prepare our communities, state and nation for the future of energy and power,” Iowa State University President Wendy Wintersteen said, referring to a five-year strategic plan for sustainability in operations announced in 2020.

“The public-private partnership represented in the new solar farm will be a significant step in making progress on our mutual renewable energy and sustainability goals.”

Earlier this week, the utility said it planned to file a proposal with the Iowa Utilities Board to buy a large-scale solar project near Palo from NextEra Energy, at the site of the now-decommissioned Duane Arnold Energy Center, with the aim of developing it into the state’s largest solar and battery storage facility.

The Ames-area solar farm is to be built on land that is part of ISU College of Agriculture and Life Sciences’ animal science teaching and research farms.

The up to 900-kilowatt solar farm, at maximum output, could power 230 houses a year and will provide an equal amount of electricity to nearby teaching and research farms, Alliant said in a news release.

ISU will obtain renewable energy credits generated by the solar farm, which will off set a portion of the university’s annual carbon emissions.

Construction could begin in late 2022 or 2023, the release said.