US utility Alliant Energy has completed construction at two solar projects in the US state of Iowa with a combined capacity of 200MW.
The projects were built by US engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) firm Burns & McDonnell, and are the tenth and 11th projects the company has built for Alliant Energy, following the construction of nine facilities in Alliant’s home state of Wisconsin. Burns & McDonnell announced that it would complete work at these projects, the 150MW Wever project and the 50MW Creston solar project, in April, and has since said that Canadian Solar modules have been deployed at both projects.
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“These projects stand as a testament to Alliant Energy’s commitment to sustainability and our dedication to safety and resilience,” said Jami Stone, construction project manager at Burns & McDonnell. “We are incredibly grateful to Alliant Energy and the skilled labourers, carpenters and electricians whose dedication, skills and experience made these projects successful.”
Burns & McDonnell noted it had taken a number of steps to minimise the environmental damage caused by the projects, including installing a “500-year” flood preparedness system at the Wever project and planting “native grasses and pollinator-friendly” plants to enrich the soil at the Creston facility.
The latter project is also built on uneven terrain, a topic which has drawn increased attention in recent years; last week, Burns & McDonnell’s Dalton Ruddell, alongside Nextracker’s Nick Price, wrote a piece for PV Tech in which they described the global solar sector as reaching a “tipping point” with regard to terrain-following trackers.
While Iowa is one of the smaller US states in terms of operational solar capacity, with just 704MW in operation as of the third quarter of this year, its utility-scale sector has grown considerably in recent years. Since 2021, the state has added 300MW of utility-scale capacity, according to the US Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA), and the trade body expects a further 1.6GW of capacity to be added over the next five years.
