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HARTFORDBUSINESS.COM | NOVEMBER 25, 2024 21 FOCUS | Clean Energy Charged Up As CT plans for clean-energy future, 800 MW of battery energy storage is in pipeline – but projects face regulatory hurdles and delays project in November 2023 — a 5 MW-facility at 2 Ella T. Grasso Turn- pike in Windsor Locks. Key Capture has received two other approvals for a 4.9-MW facility at 44 Skinner St., in East Hampton; and a 5-MW facility on Village Hill Road in Stafford and Willington. It also has one petition pending: a 4.9-MW project at 100 Salmon Brook St., in Granby, filed on Aug. 1. Meantime, Endurant Energy, a New York City-based green energy supplier, has had five battery storage projects approved by the Siting Council. Those projects — in Meriden, Cheshire, Windsor, Suffield and Middletown — will feed commercial businesses rather than the grid. For example, Endurant received approvals for a 4.9-MW project at 508 North Colony St., in Meriden, home to Accel International, a manufacturer of copper and alloy products; and a 4.9-MW project at 350 Knotter Drive in Cheshire, home to chemical manufacturer Olin Corp. Some businesses are combining battery energy storage systems with solar panels or fuel cells, so they can both generate and store electricity, said attorney Lee D. Hoffman, who specializes in energy and is chair of law firm Pullman & Comley. By Andrew Larson alarson@hartfordbusiness.com M ore than two dozen large- scale battery energy storage projects have been quietly proposed across Connecticut, and are at various stages of develop- ment, as they await state approvals and seek funding sources. The rush of new developments comes amid Connecticut's push to create 1,000 MW of battery energy storage capacity by the end of 2030. Battery energy storage facilities cost millions of dollars and take years to build. When completed, they look like nondescript shipping containers, but they are essential to integrating renewable energy into the electric grid. So far, 11 major projects, totaling about 400 MW, have either been approved by, or are pending before, the state Siting Council, an industry regulator. Another 15 large-scale projects are being considered for a 400-MW procurement through the state Department of Energy and Envi- ronmental Protection (DEEP), though none have been selected. That means the state potentially has 800 MW of battery energy storage capacity in the pipeline. Utility-scale projects will feed power to the grid; others will be used by businesses that are powering their facilities with clean energy sources. Such storage is seen as a key component of the state's transition to renewable energy because it allows electricity to be purchased from intermittent sources, such as solar and wind, when rates are at their lowest. Then, the energy is stored and dispatched during peak demand. Currently, about half of Connecti- cut's electricity is generated at natural gas-fired plants, which produce a constant supply of electricity. However, as an increasing share of the state's power comes from intermit- tent sources, battery energy storage will become necessary to maintain an adequate power supply, experts say. Cost-savings play The state Siting Council has broad authority to regulate the placement of electric utility facilities, and battery energy storage projects greater than 1 MW generally require its approval. Smaller projects, such as a 0.77-MW battery energy storage system recently proposed at the Farmington Sports Arena, are regu- lated by local zoning authorities. These facilities store energy that is fed to businesses, based on demand. There is no official count of small- er-scale commercial and residential battery energy storage systems, which are sprouting across the state. The largest project on the Siting Council's docket, by far, is a 325-MW battery facility, known as Windham Energy Center, on a 20-acre portion of a property at 189 Lake Road in Killingly. The developer is an Israeli company, Sunflower Sustainable Investments Ltd. The application, submitted on Oct. 11, says the project will cost about $200 million to construct. A natural gas-fueled power plant was proposed on the same property in 2019, but that project didn't get off the ground after facing intense opposition from clean energy and other advocates. The Windham Energy Center is working its way through the Siting Council approval process. New York-based Key Capture Energy was the first to receive Siting Council approval for a battery storage New York-based Key Capture Energy's team on a site tour of a completed battery energy storage project in Pomona, New York. Key Capture has proposed seven utility-scale battery energy storage projects in Connecticut so far. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO LARGE-SCALE BATTERY ENERGY STORAGE PROJECTS APPROVED BY CT SITING COUNCIL DEVELOPER CAPACITY (MW) LOCATION Endurant Energy 4.9 Meriden Endurant Energy 4.9 Cheshire Endurant Energy 7 Windsor Endurant Energy 18 Suffield Endurant Energy 4.9 Middletown Key Capture Energy 5 Windsor Locks Key Capture Energy 4.9 East Hampton Key Capture Energy 5 Willington Source: CT Siting Council Continued on next page