Representatives of Key Capture Energy, a company seeking to build a 50-megawatt battery energy storage facility on LIPA-owned property in Shoreham, will make a presentation to the Wading River Civic Association Thursday night.
“The project is tentatively proposed,” said Key Capture Energy representative Phil Denara in a phone call Tuesday.
The company is currently conducting community outreach. “Our goal is to have a very inclusive process and ensure that all stakeholders are involved throughout the application process,” Denara said.
“We transmitted a draft of the full engineered site plan and SEQR documentation to PSE&G,” he said. “PSE&G is informally reviewing that and providing final feedback to our team. And then pending that formalization, the application will be transmitted to LIPA to formally begin the SEQR review process.” LIPA will be the lead agency for the review.
Key Capture hopes to be able to begin construction in the fourth quarter of 2025, Denara said.
The site, which is located in the Town of Brookhaven, is “perhaps the most ideal location for a battery storage project in the town,” Denara said, “given the existing uses on site and lack of impact to any environmental-sensitive receptors or community-sensitive receptors, et cetera,” he said.
The 57-acre site is already developed with the decommissioned nuclear power plant, built in the 1970s and ’80s, a 138kV substation and the Cross Sound Cable, which connects the LIPA power grid to suppliers in Connecticut. The BESS facility would be developed on a portion of the property on the west side of the site, which borders more than 300 acres of wooded, undeveloped land owned by National Grid.
The civic association meeting will take place at 7:30 p.m. Thursday at Wading River Congregational Church, 2057 North Country Rd., Wading River.
Battery energy storage systems, known as BESS, store electricity for distribution to the electric grid at times of peak demand or times when renewable energy production by wind or solar power generating facilities cannot meet demand.
Currently, BESS facilities typically rely on lithium ion batteries for storing energy and newer designs for the facilities provide self-contained units for batteries with internal fire suppression systems in place to extinguish any fires and prevent chain-reaction incidents.
The battery energy storage facilities are widely viewed as essential to the sustainability and reliability of renewable energy and are considered a vital component of plans to achieve the state’s goals of transitioning away from fossil-fuel energy production, which add carbon and other greenhouse gasses to the earth’s atmosphere.
Safety concerns about BESS facilities have led some municipalities to enact moratoriums to temporarily stop permitting and construction of the facilities, pending local or state determinations regarding fire and safety codes.
Fires last summer at three BESS facilities, including one in East Hampton, prompted Gov. Kathy Hochul to form a fire safety working group to study the design and operation of BESS facilities and make recommendations for improvements. The working group, comprising state officials from several different agencies, issued draft recommendations in February. A public comment period ended March 5. No final recommendations have yet been issued.
In its pursuit of attaining an emission-free energy grid by 2024, N.Y. state has set a goals of reaching 1,500 MW of energy storage by 2025 and 3,000 megawatts by 2030, the year by which the state aims to achieve 70% renewable energy-sourced electricity.
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