The cheese stands alone: Green Bay approves its first utility-scale battery energy storage system

Green Bay can’t seem to stop the Detroit Lions, nor will it stand in the way of plans to develop the city’s first standalone utility-scale battery energy storage system (BESS).

In a meeting Monday, the City of Green Bay Plan Commission authorized a Conditional Use Permit (CUP) to allow Tern Energy Storage LLC to establish a BESS on 8.1 acres of land tucked into the southeast corner of 20 acres zoned for General Industrial (GI) use at 2020 North Quincy Street, just north of Interstate Highway 43.

GI is Green Bay’s least-restrictive zoning district, but substations substations and distribution facilitiesrequire a CUP to be established.

The proposed 200-megawatt (MW), 800-megawatt-hour (MWh) BESS will consist of approximately 450 battery enclosures (10’ X 30’ in size), approximately 112 transformers, and a collection substation. The BESS will support grid reliability by charging its lithium-ion batteries with energy from the electric transmission grid, storing that energy on-site, and delivering it back to the grid when needed. The project will be designed and operated in accordance with the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) 855 Standard on the Installation of Energy Storage Systems, considered the gold standard for battery energy storage fire safety. It may also include an onsite operation and maintenance (O&M) facility, according to documents filed with the City of Green Bay.

The project will be owned and operated by Tern Energy Storage, a wholly owned subsidiary of infrastructure investment firm Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP), and will be developed by Tenaska, Inc. CIP currently has about $20 billion of assets under management and is involved in the development of 550 MW of BESS projects in Wisconsin, including the proposed Tern Energy Storage project. Tenaska, a private company based in Omaha, Nebraska, has been responsible for developing, managing, and operating more than 22,000 MWs of generation over its 35 years. It has been a partner with CIP in all of CIP’s Wisconsin BESS projects.

A Tenaska representative told the Green Bay Plan Commission that Tern Energy Storage represents a $300 million investment in the city. The project is expected to produce about 75 construction jobs once work begins in the fourth quarter of 2025. Tenaska expects operations to start in 2026 or 2027.

More battery energy storage should be popping up across Wisconsin soon.

Presuming it overcomes increased costs and delays in construction, the Koshkonong Solar Energy Center will include a 300 MW solar facility and a 165 MW BESS in Dane County. We Energies, Wisconsin Public Service, and Madison Gas and Electric recently agreed to purchase the project from Chicago-based developer Invenergy. Considering supply chain disruptions, interest rates, and federal regulations combating unfair trade practices and forced labor, the once $649 million project is now expected to cost more than $900M to build.

We Energies also recently filed plans with the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin to build a bevy of new clean generation that would add more than 500 megawatts (MW) of solar power and 180 MW of wind power to the grid, including 100 MW of new battery storage.

Last September, Black Mountain Energy Storage received approval from the City of Milwaukee to construct a 300 MW/1,200 MWh battery storage project, slated to be Wisconsin’s largest known standalone battery project.

Originally published in Renewable Energy World.