The Bellin and Gundersen Health System and utility partner Xcel Energy broke ground last month on a microgrid at what they tout as one of the first 100% resilient and renewable energy healthcare campuses in the U.S.
The microgrid, which was announced in January, will be built at the health system’s Onalaska, Wisconsin, campus. The microgrid will be connected to a new battery energy storage system, the facility’s existing rooftop solar array and biogas energy generated by the nearby La Crosse County Landfill.
“This microgrid will help fortify one of our largest campuses to allow continuous care and great experience,” said Bill Farrell, chair of the Gundersen Envision board of directors and chief strategy and innovation officer for Bellin and Gundersen Health System. “This is a big win for our region and for the future of sustainable healthcare.”
It is expected that the microgrid will manage 4,511,000 KW of power each year, the equivalent of the annual energy use of 411 homes, according to officials from Gundersen.
“We are ensuring our great staff can provide care in the event of a power outage and at the same time expanding our investment into sustainability programs. This reduces the cost of care for everyone and helps keep our environment healthy,” said Heather Schimmers, Gundersen region president for Emplify Health (the Bellin and Gundersen Health System is rebranding as Emplify Health).
Sustainable, energy efficient health care
The Bellin and Gundersen network includes eleven hospitals and more than 100 clinics across Wisconsin, Minnesota, Upper Michigan and Iowa. In addition to the Onalaska microgrid, the company has made a strong commitment to renewable energy and sustainability in recent years, adding solar, geothermal and battery storage to several of its facilities.
This summer, one of those facilities, the newly opened Gundersen St. Joseph’s Elroy Clinic, achieved its goal of becoming a next zero facility that produces more energy than it uses.
The new clinic, located in a rural community about 60 miles southeast of La Crosse, replaced a facility roughly half its size. It has 16 geothermal wells buried underneath the parking lot and solar panels on the roof.
While the system cannot keep pace with cold-weather energy demand, it overproduces energy in warmer months, sending excess power to the grid.
“The energy that we’re overproducing now and sending back will account for what we’re using in the winter and not generating,” says Ariel Brophy, a project manager with Gundersen Envision, the health system’s sustainability program.
Utility partnership advances microgrid development
The Onalaska project is leveraging Xcel Energy’s EMPOWER Resiliency program to assist with the design and construction of the microgrid.
"Xcel Energy is the first utility in Wisconsin to offer a comprehensive program to support microgrids and other resiliency projects for large business customers and governmental entities who require a higher-than-standard service reliability," says Karl Hoesly, president, Xcel Energy-Wisconsin and Michigan. “Our EMPOWER Resiliency program allows them to choose resiliency options to best meet their critical needs, while ensuring safety and reliability for patients and staff.”
Customers can finance the resiliency projects through Xcel, typically for a 10-year period during which the utility will own and maintain the equipment. At the end of the term, ownership transfers to the customer.
Xcel is developing solar microgrids at three Minneapolis community centers to provide electricity during power outages and serve as community gathering places. In Colorado, the company is developing six community microgrids to provide emergency services to communities during power outages.
