On November 27, North Glengarry township council unanimously supported a proposal by a Toronto-based company to construct a Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) on Skye Road near the northern boundary of the township.
Representatives of Compass Energy Consulting first presented their proposal to North Glengarry council on September 25.
Battery storage projects are being proposed across Ontario to meet growing electricity needs and support sustainable development, through the Independent Electricity System Operator (IESO), the agency which regulates the electrical power supply. According to Compass, the IESO has identified that 4,000 megawatts of new electricity supply must be added in Ontario to meet demand by 2030. Battery storage provides flexibility to electricity systems by storing low-cost power during off-peak periods and feeding it back into the electricity grid during peak periods when the demand for electricity is the highest. The proposed project in North Glengarry is to be 0.7 acres with a lease agreement with the landowner. The current zoning of the land is general agriculture, which means that the change in use of the land will require an official plan amendment and rezoning application. The site is located on land between Skye Road and Highway 417, adjacent to the Hydro One St-Isidore Transformer Station (TS) and could accommodate up to 17 megawatts of electricity.
Compass has already received approval for three 4.9 megawatt BESS facilities in the Windsor area, and one 4.9-megawatt site in Mississippi Mills, Lanark County.
Following the presentation in September, North Glengarry staff met with Compass representatives and discussed emergency and fire protection, impacts to surrounding residents and decommissioning associated with the BESS site. On October 18, Compass held a public information meeting for area residents in Dunvegan.
The BESS development is what the IESO calls a Long-Term Reliability Project as it would help ensure a continuous supply of electricity. Before North Glengarry council voted to support the Compass proposal on November 27, Deputy Mayor Carma Williams explained that municipal support of an applicant’s proposal helps the proposal obtain enough criteria points for acceptability during the IESO’s selection process. Chief Administrative Officer Sarah Huskinson said there are currently two BESS project applications before the IESO.
The motion to support the proposed BESS project by Compass Energy Consulting was approved unanimously, without any further discussion.
If approved, the BESS site in North Glengarry would be constructed and commissioned between 2025 and 2027 and remain in service until 2047.
For more information, go to https://northglengarryenergystorage.com/ .
Map of proposed BESS site on Skye Road
Map from https://northglengarryenergystorage.com/.
