BESS facility bid in Calverton moves ahead

A 60-megawatt/120-megawatt hour Tier II lithium-ion Battery Energy Storage (BESS) facility first proposed in 2022 to be constructed at 104 Edwards Ave. in Calverton is advancing after a previous moratorium paused its development. 

Rhynland Energy, the developer of the EC Battery Energy Storage Project, is requesting a special permit to build on the 1.66-acre parcel, where all existing structures would be demolished or removed, including the Long Island Farm Bureau’s headquarters, who leases its building. 

Rob Carpenter, administrative director for the LI Farm Bureau, said although he couldn’t speak on the project itself, the organization is aware of the ongoing situation and is considering its next steps if their headquarters is to be removed.

A fuel oil storage facility, special trade contractor and cabinet manufacturer, a Long Island Power Authority substation the facility will hook up to, a solar farm, the Long Island Railroad, and some residential areas also surround the property.

The proposed BESS facility will consist of utility-scale lithium-ion phosphate battery cabinets, as well as power conversion systems with closed coupled transformers, HVAC equipment for cooling purposes, switch gear and a 138kV step up transformer to aid in the interconnection to the LIPA/PSEG-LI transmission grid. 

Almost every compliance standard has been met, although the plan does require a little more “fine tuning” and clarification in other areas, according to the applicant’s attorney, Steven Losquadro. 

“This is designed to sustain and promote the deployment of renewable energy sources, which presumably, will make the environment cleaner and improve quality of life,” Mr. Losquadro said. “A lot of LIPA’s infrastructure is very antiquated, and this is designed to strengthen and harden that — increasingly, so it seems, we are susceptible to storms, and this will be really critical to deploy in anticipation of those events.” 

Matt Charters, senior town planner, confirmed at the April 17 Town Board work session that the site plan has met the code requirements for the Calverton Industrial Zoning Use District and Tier 2 battery storage systems. The system is not located in an avoidance area, not in the jurisdiction of any wetlands, all fencing and lighting requirements have been met and the site plan has been referred to the town’s fire marshal, he said. 

The Planning Department has recommended that the development be an Unlisted action under the State Environmental Quality Review Act. Riverhead Town is pursuing lead agency status in the SEQRA process and has elected to begin a coordinated review with involved agencies, including the Suffolk County Planning Commission, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, the New York State Historic Preservation Office, the Riverhead Town Planning Board, Riverhead Water District and PSEG Long Island. 

The only other lingering concerns are the need for more details on the applicant’s request for a buffer around the entire site of five feet rather than the recommended 10 feet; a sound study on the potential noise generated from the systems; updates on decommissioning costs; and clarification on combustible vegetation clearing. 

The Suffolk County Planning Commission approved the site plan and a special use permit at a Feb. 18 meeting, with several conditions the applicant must follow. After three battery plant fires took place in 2023, including one in East Hampton that was contained, the state implemented an Inter-Agency Fire Safety Working Group to study the root cause of these fires and how to address them. 

One of the state fire code recommendations, which hasn’t been adopted yet, is to provide mandatory hazmat training. A few concerns emerged from conversations with Riverhead Fire District commissioners, one being the proximity of the proposed battery energy system to the adjacent fuel oil storage facility. 

If an incident were to occur, the commissioners noted, the Riverhead Fire Department currently does not have the appropriate equipment to handle this type of emergency. The applicant said they are willing to train local first responders and the developer committed to donating $100,000 to the fire district to purchase a hazmat response vehicle. 

Mr. Losquadro said continuous training would be extended to the Jamesport, Manorville and Wading River fire departments as well. Paul Rogers, co-founder of Emergency Safety Response Group, assured the Town Board that BESS technology has evolved, and these previous fires were due mainly to outdated systems. The individual battery cabinets the developer is proposing help with compartmentation for risk management.

“My ultimate goal is to make sure the firefighters are safe — not too worried about the property as much as I am about the firefighters,” Mr. Rogers said. “We’ve had discussions back and forth about overall battery energy storage, not about the project itself, and how they are coming and moving forward — it’s an ongoing discussion, and I like that.” 

The Riverhead Fire District also recommended a staging area be created that would allow the Riverhead Fire Department to stage equipment in the event of an emergency. They also requested the staging area have a cabinet with a shutoff and emergency information. 

The other conditions the Suffolk County Planning Commission outlined were for the applicant to implement full containment of stormwater on site to prevent heavy metal runoff from the battery beyond the property and into the groundwater. 

Town Supervisor Tim Hubbard acknowledged that residents will be “very concerned” and “have fears” about this project, but he encouraged the community to reach out to the town’s planning department staff and fire marshal with any questions. 

“Try to educate yourself. There is a lot of information available on BESS systems,” Mr. Hubbard said. “They’re coming, we are not going to stop them, we can’t stop them from coming. It’s just a matter of the way energy is being developed, [how it’s] trying to be stored, [and] making sure we have enough for everybody to use … we want to make sure it’s done in absolutely the safest way it can be.”