One of the developers building Canada’s largest battery-storage facility in Haldimand County wants to bring a smaller project to Norfolk County within five years.
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NRStor Inc. is a partner in the Oneida Energy Storage project announced in February, which when completed by 2025 will store 250 megawatts of electricity on four hectares outside Jarvis.
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At the Nov. 15 Norfolk council meeting, NRStor pitched a lithium-ion battery-storage facility on the outskirts of Simcoe that would store 100 megawatts of energy and supply 400 megawatt hours to the grid.
“It’s a significant infrastructure project,” said vice president of operations Scott Matthews.
The proposed $250-million facility would occupy eight acres of industrial land near a Hydro One transmission station on the outskirts of Simcoe.
If approved by the province’s Independent Electricity System Operator (IESO), the facility would be operational by May 2028 and run for 20 years, with an option to renew.
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“We see it as longer than a 20-year project,” Matthews said.
Energy storage facilities take in excess electricity produced by renewable sources at off-peak times — such as wind turbines spinning overnight — and add it back to the grid when demand spikes, which lowers the use of emissions-heavy gas plants to produce power at peak hours.
The province wants to build 2,000 megawatts of electricity storage, which has attracted significant interest from energy-storage developers in Canada and the United States. Ontario is heavily investing in battery storage since no storage capacity currently exists, Matthews explained.
The proposed Simcoe project would be 50 per cent owned by NRStor and 25 per cent each by Mississaugas of the Credit Business Corporation and Six Nations of the Grand River Development Corporation.
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The two-year construction project is expected to employ about 150 local laborers, with the permanent workforce shrinking to about 10 people to operate the facility.
The IESO requires municipal support prior to construction, but NRStor wanted Norfolk to sign on before submitting an application.
Council gave its blessing, but on two conditions set out by Mayor Amy Martin.
NRStor would have to fund a capital project in Norfolk or pay the county an annual fee to use the property — or ideally both, Martin said.
Matthews said the company is already negotiating the particulars of what he called a “community benefits payment.”
Secondly, Martin wants the developer to give the county the “first kick at the can” to buy the industrial land upon the completion of the lease. Should NRStor want to sell any unused portions of the 20 acres it intends to purchase, Norfolk would have first right of refusal as well.
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Matthews said the facility would generate a “low hum” akin to a “very expensive, quiet dishwasher.”
The company follows “strict guidelines on fire safety” that make the chances of a battery catching fire no higher than the fire risk at a hydro transformer station, he added.
Council’s approval does not mean the project is a sure thing.
Residents can ask questions and offer feedback at a public open house on Nov. 28 from 5 to 7 pm at the rec center on the Simcoe fairgrounds.
JP Antonacci is a Local Journalism Initiative Reporter based at the Hamilton Spectator. The initiative is funded by the Government of Canada.
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