At least three battery energy storage projects are being planned for Chatham-Kent, and they’ll require a letter of support from the municipality to move forward.
Bruce McAllister, general manager of community development for the Municipality of Chatham-Kent, said the companies behind these projects plan to submit separate bids to the Independent Electricity System Operator.
The Ontario Crown corporation has put out a call for new battery energy storage systems to meet growing demand.
Along with the support from the municipality, the project proponents will likely come forward to request formal planning approvals, McAllister said.
“As we sit here today, we’re just trying to confirm who wants to request formal municipal support of the municipality,” McAllister said.
The agenda for the Dec. 5 council meeting included a closed session item regarding “position, plan, procedure, criteria or instruction to be applied to any negotiations carried on by the municipality” towards a community support agreement for battery projects.
McAllister said all three projects he is aware of are on private lands.
Renewable Energy Systems Canada Inc. is proposing to build an energy storage project of up to 350 megawatts at 13613 Spence Line near Ridgetown. The project, which will operate under the name Wheat Energy Storage, does not include on-site power generation, its website said. It is located near the existing Spence switching station.
The company previously held a public community meeting in Thamesville in early December. More information about the project is available at www.wheatenergystorage.com.
Boralex Inc. is planning another project near Chatham east of Communication and north of Highway 401. According to the website for the project, the company plans on having a capacity of 300 to 600 megawatts for four hours. It will connect to an existing Hydro One transmission system.
Commerical operation of the Chatham Battery Energy Storage System Project, as it is being called, is planned for spring 2025, the website said. Boralex plans to submit its bid to the IESO in February.
Boralex held two public meetings for the project in November and December. More information is available at www.boralex.com/projects/chatham.
The Chatham-Kent Battery Energy Storage System, a third project from a partnership between Kruger Energy and Innergex, is being planned at 4683 Finn Line east of Tilbury. The companies expect to have a capacity of 145 megawatts over four hours and start operations by spring 2026, according to the project website at www.chathamkentbess.com.
The project will connect to the electrical grid via an existing switching station, the website said. A public meeting for this project was planned for late January.
McAllister said the state of these projects are currently in the hands of the developers.
“It’s early days in terms of how far advanced they are in terms of design or anything,” he said.
He said he expects a report on battery energy storage projects will be brought to council for the Feb. 6 meetings.