Plans for an Innovative Iowa Energy Park Announced

Algona Municipal Utilities is one of 130 municipal utility companies in Iowa and surrounding states that plan to build a revolutionary energy park in Dallas County. The Iowa Stored Energy Park (ISEP) will be the first of its kind in Iowa.  ISEP will enhance the value of wind energy and energy from other sources while conserving fossil fuels, controlling electricity costs, and providing energy that is safe for the environment.

Wind energy is one of the most environmentally friendly ways to make electricity and is also one of the most under-utilized. With extremely low emissions, wind energy is clean and safe. Currently, Iowa ranks third in the nation in wind generation.

The Iowa Stored Energy Park will use energy from wind generating facilities located in Iowa where there are outstanding wind resources. This wind energy, combined with inexpensive energy from other sources, will be used to compress and store air in an underground geologic structure of porous rock. This rock structure, now filled with water and called an "aquifer", is located 3,000 feet underground, beneath layers of impermeable cap rock. The air will be injected under pressure, pushing back the water. The rock will hold air much like a sponge holds water. Then, as demand for electricity rises, the stored air will be released, heated and used to drive generators. The generators will produce electricity for people in Iowa and surrounding states.

Using wind energy and inexpensive energy from other sources to compress the air results in using less than one-half the natural gas required by conventional turbines to generate comparable amounts of electricity. This is how ISEP  will make wind energy reliable and provide clean energy on demand.

It's likely that in the near future, the federal government will mandate the use of more "green" energy. The Iowa Stored Energy Park will lead the way in developing such energy.

The U.S. Department of Energy backs the project, with both research and financial support. For the past five years, the Iowa Association of Municipal Utilities has been a leader in helping Iowa's utility companies implement this stored energy project. Further studies of the Dallas Center site are now underway. The Iowa Stored Energy Park is expected to be fully operational and providing electricity to Iowa and surrounding states by May 2011.

More information is available at  Iowa Stored Energy Park - Capturing the Power of Nature through Wind Energy