Big Blue Cart: Alliant Energy’s Decorah battery install

Alliant Energy’s Decorah Battery Project in Iowa packed advanced energy storage into metal containers. Each rack in the main container holds twelve batteries, from ankle height to well over head height. Rick Zimmerman, Alliant Energy Senior Strategic Project Engineer, put the requirement plainly: the install had to be easier, and it had to be safer.

Alliant Energy worked with RackLift® engineers in the United States to spec a custom loading cart; the Big Blue Cart; powered by a hand crank or a cordless drill. It took more than 3,660 lb of lifting off the contractors. Three hundred sixty lithium-ion modules, about 100 lb each and roughly the size of a desktop computer, went into the racks without a human forklift.

Mike McArthur, project manager at Eilertson Inc., Alliant’s installation contractor: “I can’t imagine loading all those modules without the RackLift®. Once we got the hang of it; unpacking a battery, cranking it up to the right height, and sliding it into place; we significantly sped up the process.” Technicians unpacked and installed one module in the time it took to open the next.

Sarah Martz, Alliant Energy Manager of Distribution Engineering, said the lessons travel: “We’ll certainly look to replicate what we’ve learned here in future battery projects.” The 2.5 MW / 2.922 MWh system is an electron bank for a community with a high share of customer-owned generation.

Battery containers, PODs, and outdoor strings are why the RL600C is built to the doorway you actually have; including 114″ custom height. U.S. energy-storage work is a RackLift® job.