Minnesota college to add zinc battery to extensive green energy portfolio

The University of Minnesota Morris is adding a large battery to its campus energy setup: a 1-megawatt, 6-megawatt-hour zinc battery made by a company called Eos. It's paid for by a state grant from Minnesota's Legislative-Citizen Commission on Natural Resources, and it's expected to start running in 2027. The school picked zinc battery technology partly because it holds up in cold climates without needing much extra heating or cooling equipment to protect it, which matters for Minnesota winters.

The battery won't belong to the university. Otter Tail Power, the local utility, will own and run it, and it will connect straight into the utility's grid. Minnesota's Public Utilities Commission approved the investment back in March 2026. Software from a company called OATI will control when the battery charges and discharges based on grid conditions. Over its expected 20-year life, researchers at the university will get scheduled windows to study how it performs.

This adds to a long list of energy projects already on campus, including a lithium-ion battery, thermal energy storage, wind turbines, solar panels, and a combined solar-and-farming setup called agrivoltaics. Because the campus has steady, mixed energy demand similar to a small town, it works as a real-world testing ground. For homeowners, this isn't something you'd install at home, but it's a sign utilities are testing longer-lasting battery options that could eventually support local grids, including in smaller communities, more reliably.