Keep eyes and minds open on battery storage safety

As the nation continues its important trek from fossil fuels to green energy, the ability to store renewable energy generated by solar and wind becomes crucial. Converting the electric grid to handle these new and needed technologies has its challenges, but we must not lose this opportunity to mitigate climate change.

Local sites for storing energy in large batteries hooked up to the grid are an indispensable part of the plan. But the presence of these small storage plants will continue to be a civic flashpoint on and off Long Island in 2025.

The rise of battery energy storage systems (BESS is the acronym) offers a way to bank power generated from new sources, such as solar panels and offshore wind turbines, and send it back into the grid for use when demand is peaking.

But fires at storage plants, including one in East Hampton in 2023, have caused a shudder of trepidation. An array of towns from North Hempstead to Islip imposed moratoriums on BESS sites. Babylon Town just extended its moratorium for another six months, halting applications for such facilities.

On Dec. 10, the Jupiter Power company led a two-hour public meeting in Sea Cliff where representatives tried to reassure neighbors about its $250 million Oyster Shore Energy Storage project on Hempstead Harbor. But those urging outright rejection ignored the meeting’s format requiring them to write down questions for a Jupiter official to answer.

This backdrop made it difficult for proponents to defend the facility's safety plans. Consultant Paul Rogers, a retired FDNY lieutenant who acquired relevant expertise on the job, sought to explain how rewritten fire codes and changes in plant and battery design have reduced risks to employees, firefighters and neighbors.

EDUCATING THE PUBLIC

One challenge for Rogers and others is getting nonexperts to accept that the ins and outs of a battery energy storage system are a different discussion from e-bikes and other appliances that spark disasters when equipped with substandard lithium-ion batteries and stored indoors.

To the unfamiliar, BESS sites might look like arrays of freight containers and tall lockers. These are modules that contain and protect the high-tech battery cells and cables. Improvements have been underway in electronic monitoring to head off problems.

If a fire does start, the goal is to isolate it and avert what technicians call "thermal runaway" — an uncontrolled intensity of heat that builds on itself. Due to the chemical energy involved, firefighters must use measures different from conventional firefighting.

One year ago, a New York State "interagency fire safety working group" found that the East Hampton blaze, as well as others in upstate Jefferson and Orange counties, produced "no reported injuries and no harmful levels of toxins detected." According to the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, the working group has "made significant progress in evaluating both preventive and reactive standards and practices for battery system fire safety."

The East Hampton storage system has been rebuilt and returned to use in July. Hopefully, it’s seen its last scary mishap.

MISUNDERSTANDINGS ABOUND

The Town of Brookhaven, meanwhile, did not declare a moratorium on battery storage sites. Construction is underway on such a facility on town property in Patchogue. Now, as Newsday has reported, opponents are coalescing to stop the five battery projects that have been proposed. Their fears go beyond fires and include worrying about impacts the BESS sites may have on home values, insurance costs, and even the Island's aquifer.

Unfortunately, false information can seep quickly into civic debates, making practical public discussion and compromises difficult.

Another misunderstanding about the need to upgrade Long Island's energy grid is surfacing with opposition to the Propel NY Energy project, which is installing underground cables to better connect Long Island to other parts of the state energy system — as well as a 345 kV transmission line mostly in Nassau County to meet future demand here.

Proponents of modernizing the system say some objections raised in public hearings so far have involved future offshore wind projects. But it's an erroneous connection. The power transmission infrastructure must be updated and renovated regardless of what source may generate that power. Delivering electricity along a modern highway is essential regardless of the degree of solar, wind, battery storage, or fossil fuel power involved. If one of Long Island's major fossil fuel generators fails for whatever reason, the new transmission lines will allow power to flow from upstate to meet our demands. We need a more reliable system.

Residents should ask basic questions. But then comes the hard part: listening to the answers, confronting complications, and evaluating what’s been learned even if it means modifying one’s opinion.

A moratorium is just that — a temporary period to work out underlying issues. By now, the journey to green energy is inexorable, and delaying or saying "No" without qualification   cannot serve the Island's long-term interests.