There are Red Flags with the Alectra-Convergent Battery Storage Proposals in South Frontenac

Jeff Green | Nov 30, 2023

The idea behind Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) is sound. If it is possible to store power that can be accessed instantly in order to maintain the integrity of the electricity grid at any time, then the path to replacing fossil fuel electrical generation with renewable sources is much smoother.

With climate change impacts already upon us, there is no time to waste in the transition away from fossil fuel electrical generation on a global scale, and the rapid improvements in battery technology are making BESS on a large scale, the go-to way to make this happen.

But there have been some growing pains as these systems have come online over the past 10 years, and the most worrying one is that some of them have caught fire, usually very soon after being installed.

South Frontenac Council is being asked to do their part in the fight against climate change, and receive between $300,000 and $700,000 per year for 20 years, for their trouble. All they have to do is pass a motion of support for two proposals from Alectra-Convergent, something they can do next week if they want to, or they can wait.

The presentation that they heard last week from David Anders of Altectra made the case that the project would only be using what he called Tier 1 suppliers; that the joint venture between Ontario based Alectra, the largest municipally owned electricity supplier in Canada, and Convergent Energy and Power, a US based energy storage and solar generation company, has been pre-approved by Ontario’s Independent Electricity System Operator (IESO) to bid on the contract; that if installed, the systems will have several layers of fire protection and will be monitored 24/7; and will incorporate “advanced fire suppression systems”.

At the same time, many of the people living near the proposed locations on Hinchinbrooke and Trousdale Road, and on Jamieson Road, are worried. For some of them, the project will literally be in their backyard, if Altera-Convergent wins the contract.

Of course, we all have something to gain from a greener energy grid, the region has something to gain by having a fast energy source when needed to shore up our regional grid, and the township would gain from some employment, an annual payment, and industrial property assessment.

But the neighbours have something to lose from what would be a massive construction project right in their backyards, followed by an installation they might or might not see from their properties, and which will could very well diminish their property values. The installation may sit there for twenty years and fade into the background of their consciousness, but then again it may not.

It might catch fire, and there are at least a couple of things that were left unsaid by David Anders from Altera, and Tremor Temchin from Convergent, at the contentious public meeting on November 14, and in front of Council on November 21, that should give Council some reason to think hard before signing anything signalling their support for the project.

At the public meeting, David Anders said that the technology of Lithium-Ion batteries has progressed, and that the chemistry in the battery array that is planned for this project, is not the same as the one that has resulted in a number of fires around the world over the past ten years.

He also said that in order to make sure of that, any fire in one of the modules that would be part of this project will be isolated from the others. While a battery fire cannot be doused by water, the cooling effect of water in the vicinity of the fire is part of the fire suppression plan. He called this a "deluge strategy"

People in the audience pointed out there is a shortage of water in the area.

So, when appearing before Council, Anders said that the "deluge strategy" is no longer part of the fire suppression plan for the project, adding that this was an example of how responsive the companies are to local input.

The fact that this aspect of the project had been changed in a one week period, makes it appear that the company has not really completed their project design. It makes it appear that they are planning to win the contract based on price, and will then spend a year or two designing the actual infrastructure they will build, since the project is not scheduled to come on line until 2028.

A second concern is that, when questioned about the chemicals that will be released in the event of a fire, at the public meeting, neither Tremor Temchin nor David Anders, answered the question, or even said they would find out. They said that BESS systems have less environmental impacts than the alternative, a new gas fired plant, which was not what the question was about, and then they said the chemicals released in a house fire could be as dangerous as those from a battery fire. These answers were not satisfactory.

Finally, as pointed out by local resident Brandi Teeple in her presentation to South Frontenac Council last week, Convergent Energy and Power's foray into battery technology has not been without incident.. In fact there was a fire in late July at one of their new facilities.

A local daily paper in Upstate New York, the Observer Today, said this about the fire in early September.

“The latest fire this summer at a battery storage facility, this time near Lyme and Chaumont, N.Y., is prompting calls for action by state lawmakers.

“The late-July fire burned for more than four days and ended up involving four trailers on the site of Convergent Energy & Power’s site in Lyme while raising concerns among residents in the rural area about the safety of air after the lengthy firefighting effort. Residents within a 1-square-mile radius of the scene were told to shelter in place for several hours during the fire.

“One of the problems raised by first responders fighting the fire was not knowing what was in the batteries, or other chemicals in the area. The legislators said it took between six and eight hours for Convergent Energy to provide data to firefighters, needed at the scene of July’s battery storage site fire.”

Altec-Convergent originally had 8 projects in rural Ontario that they were preparing to submit to the IESO in January.

With or without a motion of support from South Frontenac Council, Altera-Convergent can submit a bid on December 12 for one or both of the South Frontenac projects. But, they will require a letter of support before the project comes online.

Council has the option to say no now, and give the company a chance to get their ducks in a row if they go ahead with the bid without assurance that the township is on board.

Unless South Frontenac staff receive some more complete and compelling information than has been presented so far at the public meeting on November 14, or at Council on November 21, it might be an idea to wait and see, rather than supporting these particular these particular projects.