LA CROSSE, Wis. (WXOW) – Dairyland Power Cooperative plans to use a $28 million award from the Department of Energy to advance its clean energy efforts by building three Long-Duration Energy Storage (LDES) facilities at rural member sites in Wisconsin, Iowa, and Illinois. 

The LDES sites contain batteries that can store excess energy generated by such sources as solar and wind. 

Dairyland said in a news release that the storage can release at least 700 kilowatts of electricity for at least 10 hours. 

They’re looking at the storage as a backup technology resource for that renewable energy.

During outages, they can use the batteries to keep power flowing to member homes and businesses to help minimize the impact of an outage while crews are out working to restore any issues. 

The three facilities are located in:

Wyeville, Wis. through Oakdale Electric Cooperative

Waukon, Iowa through Allamakee-Clayton Electric Cooperative

Fentress Lake, Illinois through JCE Co-op

“Dairyland is excited to be at the forefront of bringing energy storage projects to underserved rural areas,” said Dairyland EVP & Chief Strategy Officer Kevin Nordt. “Long-duration batteries will be an essential component of the clean energy transition as they complement renewable resources and support reliability through their ability to store and shift energy in real time.”

Dairyland also cites job creation and economic development in each of the locations for the new facilities.