Renewable energy storage projects snubbed by rural councillors

UPDATE: City council accepted the committee recommendations at its meeting on Wednesday, Dec. 6, 2023. SolarBank, which had proposed a battery storage project in the West Carleton-March ward, has told CBC it will not move forward with submitting its application.

Rural Ottawa city councillors refused support to three companies bidding to build batteries for storing renewable energy, saying they want more reassurances the projects — each multiple hectares in size — won't unduly impact residents

The technology is part of Ontario's plans to address rising energy demands poised to overwhelm the grid within years.

The Independent Electricity Systems Operator (IESO), which manages the province's energy needs, said storing renewables so they can be used at off-peak hours could help solve the looming supply crunch.

A project planned in Rideau-Jock ward got the OK from members of the agriculture and rural affairs committee on Thursday.

But all three projects set for Coun. Clarke Kelly's neighbouring West Carleton-March ward have suffered a setback, as the councillor said he couldn't give the companies his support based on lacking community consultation. 

Projects need city support

City staff told councillors these battery energy storage systems are an "emerging technology" that would help stabilize the grid and support council's goals for eliminating emissions.

Wind and solar energy would be made available to customers, even when winds aren't blowing or the sun isn't shining.

• Ontario plunging into energy storage as electricity supply crunch looms
• West Carleton-March not sold on energy storage facility's size, risks

"We can't dispatch renewables at will," explained Rupp Carriveau, director of the environmental energy institute at the University of Windsor. "These assets don't cooperate all the time, particularly around times of peak demand."

The remotely monitored sites are ideally placed near transmission lines.

So far, only smaller battery facilities are up and running in the province, but a facility capable of powering 250,000 is in development in Greater Napanee.

• Battery project planned for Napanee area would power 250K homes

The projects planned for Ottawa come in response to IESO's move to procure more than 2,500 megawatts of capacity by May 2028.

Melissa Jort-Conway, a planner with the city, told councillors the procurement process is competitive and getting municipal support would give the companies a step up. 

This support is not approval, staff emphasized. The IESO has the ultimate decision-making power on which projects go ahead.

But Ontario's Green Energy Repeal Act restored power to municipal authority for site control, meaning the storage systems ultimately cannot be built until the city gives its approval.

"As those applications move their way through, they will be subject to full city review," explained David Wise, the acting director of economic development and long-range planning.

That would include providing plans to address noise levels, light pollution, safety risks, groundwater issues and more.

Charged-up debate

Beyond presentations from the companies and city staff, more than a dozen members of the public spoke at the meeting.

Many supported the idea of relying more on clean energy and reducing the risk of unexpected blackouts; others expressed concerns about living or farming close to a technology without a long track record.

"We're dealing with a really complicated issue here of how to move forward, how to recognize the reality of climate change, how to increase our electrical grid in a way that doesn't create any safety hazards," said Judy Makin, who's lived in West Carleton-March for 30 years.

"I wanted to lend my voice to support this new technology, which sounds really exciting to me and worth pursuing."

Makin was disappointed the projects won't go through, but wondered if they were simply too big. 

Bill Anderson, who lives in Fitzroy Harbour, went to public consultations for two projects near his home before speaking to councillors on Thursday.

"Unfortunately, the answers that we were getting, our concerns were not addressed," he said, noting high-profile international incidents where the lithium-ion batteries used in these systems exploded or caught fire.

"People say there is very low risk, but low risk does not equate to no risk."

These fires are rare, said Carriveau, but "it doesn't mean people shouldn't have concerns."

The companies are trying to do something important and necessary, he added, and should allay concerns with both explanations and step-by-step plans illustrating how they would deal with an emergency.

Councillors want more

That's what Kelly said was missing in this case.

He found consultations were either too late, or woefully inadequate — pointing to one project that held an open house 44 kilometres away from the proposed site in the middle of a weekday.

"If these applicants had come to the table six months ago, engaged with my office earlier, engaged with the public earlier, then maybe we'd be having a different conversation today," he said.

Kelly also had some harsh words for city staff, who he hoped would have immediately pulled his office into discussions, and for some residents who posted unfounded and outlandish claims about the technology on social media.

"If you're not 100 per cent sure about something, do more research, ask more questions, and try your very best to look at it in the absence of emotion or fear," he said. 

Rideau-Jock Coun. David Brown had a different experience, saying the company hoping to build in his ward had come to a community consultation prepared and had pitched a plan to build in an area away from homes and near a highway.

That project from Gatineau-based Evolugen is poised to submit an application with the city's support, provided the full council signs on next week.

Companies mull next steps

The company also put forward one of the projects that failed to garner a positive response from councillors.

Rémi Moreau, Evolugen's vice-president of external relations, said the company will have to discuss its next steps internally, but noted that "it certainly makes it way more difficult to obtain a contract with the IESO." 

It's still possible, he said, to move forward with the application and attempt to gain a municipal support resolution some time over the next 18 months.

Both Evolugen and Potentia Renewables plan to create community benefit funds if their projects go ahead. It's something Kelly supports — but wishes he saw earlier.

"I think it just needs more time," said Will Patterson, a senior project manager at Potentia. "There are legitimate concerns that people are raising and [Coun. Kelly] just wants to make sure that those concerns have been addressed." 

Patterson said the company tried its best to engage with the community and city staff, within the confines of the accelerated application process.

Kelly said he would be happy to work with both companies, but expressed concerns about a plan by SolarBank that grew over ten times in size since initial discussions earlier this year.