Our recent story about a planned battery energy storage site in lower James City County set off a host of comments on Williamsburg Watch’s Facebook channel from people worried about the risks of pollution and fire.
“We have our work cut out for us as far as education” explaining how the site will be kept safe, a spokesperson for the developer told Williamsburg Watch. She said the company has extensive experience safely using such battery systems, but that consumers aren’t familiar with the concept and confuse them with lithium-ion batteries that have caught fire on laptops and some vehicles.
Omaha-based Taneska Energy, Inc. is seeking a permit to build a 650-megawatt battery complex on part of the land on the former BASF site, which has been dormant more than 25 years because of significant soil and groundwater contamination.
The battery complex would connect to Dominion Power’s high energy Skiffes Creek power line, which also crosses the property. The facility would store electricity during off-peak hours at night and release it back into the power grid during peak demand times during the day.
Such batteries, if not properly contained and managed, can in a worst-case scenario experience a thermal runaway that can be difficult to contain, expose firefighters to hazards from flammable gases, and release toxic gases and smoke. There can be chemical runoff from water used in firefighting.
However, a modern facility meeting current standards can incorporate cell-level monitoring, automatic shutdown, gas detection, thermal monitoring, fire detection, ventilation/explosion protection, separation between units and 24-hour remote monitoring.
The battery facility’s relatively isolated location, with the closest residence two-thirds of a mile away, reduces the exposure risk, according to our research. But the company’s application does not yet provide gas dispersion modeling showing what chemical concentrations could occur, at what distance, in the event of an explosion.
“It is really rare” to have an explosion at a modern battery storage system, we were told by Jamie Wagner, Tenaska’s manager of community relations. She said everyday lithium-ion batteries used in electric scooters and other household items are much more volatile.
Wagner said the company met with James City Fire Chief Ryan Ashe and county officials several months ago to lay out the system and jointly develop a hazard mitigation analysis and emergency response plan.
“They won’t be asked to do anything that they’re not completely familiar with,” Wagner said.
Ashe told us the meeting did not surface “any immediate concerns.” But he said if the requested special use permit is granted, the department would develop emergency response plans specific to the facility.
Wagner said the company hopes to get before the planning commission by October. If the project is approved, the company said it could pump $1 billion into the local economy during construction and generate $90 million in taxes for the county over 25 years.
Wagner said the company is planning a community meeting with residents of the nearby Grove community to explain the project and answer their questions.
Ryan Bonney, a Grove resident who is an activist for the community, told us the BASF site should be purchased by the county and put into a land trust to provide affordable housing and river access for the community.
But A. Vaughn Poller, James City’s neighborhood development administrator, said the site would not be appropriate for housing.
“There are significant environmental concerns.” he said. “Fort Eustis has also long opposed any residential development on that piece of property, given the potential incompatibility with base operations.”