Haldimand battery energy storage park nears construction
Tesla Megapack has been selected as the battery supplier for 300-megawatt project that will be the largest of its kind in Canada upon completion
Construction of a 300-megawatt battery energy storage park is set to begin this summer in Haldimand County.
Hagersville Battery Storage Inc., a subsidiary of renewable energy firm Boralex Inc., is partnering with Six Nations of the Grand River on a project designed to pull energy from the power grid at off-peak hours, store and release it back to the grid at periods of peak demand.
Occupying about 12 hectares northwest of Concession 10 Walpole and Haldimand Road 55, the project includes containerized batteries, inverters, medium voltage transformers, gravel internal access roads, buried collector and communication cabling, a small transmission substation, a maintenance building and a four-kilometre above-ground transmission line.
Boralex held a May 2 open house at the Jarvis Lions Community Centre to update residents on the work.
Shelby Dockendorff, adviser for public affairs and communications for Boralex, said the effort will be the largest battery energy storage project in Canada upon completion. The project was selected by the Ontario Independent Electricity System Operator (IESO) as part of its expedited long-term request for proposals for storage capacity.
Dockendorff said Tesla Megapack has been selected as the battery supplier. At commissioning, the site will include 334 megapacks, a large-scale rechargeable lithiumion battery energy storage product that resembles a series of shipping containers.
Dockendorff noted Boralex is working with Haldimand County to secure building permits but anticipates full approval by June or July. The system is slated for operation by the end of 2025.
Dockendorff said Ontario is facing a period of emerging energy needs. She noted battery storage reduces reliance on gas-fired generation during peak hours and provides lower-cost energy for ratepayers.
“Having these storage containers helps ensure that we have a clean, reliable and stable grid,” said Dockendorff.
Charlie Sauter, executive vicepresident of Cormorant Utility Services, one of the construction firms involved in the project, said workers are set to begin building access roads in the fall, along with foundations for about 34 steel poles. The transmission line will be erected over a six-to-eight-month process, running from the Hagersville Airport and Business Park along Haldimand Road 55 and Concession 9 Walpole, across Highway 6, feeding into the existing Hydro One transmission line.
“There’s going to be high demand for electricity in the province,” Sauter noted. “We’re really busy in southwestern Ontario with small modular reactors.”
Sixteen to 20 workers will be needed to complete construction. About two to four permanent employees are expected on site once work is complete.
Motorists may notice traffic control measures sometime in the fall, when the transmission line crosses Highway 6 near an Esso station.
Rob Snow, who lives on Concession 9 Walpole and attended the May 2 open house, said he’s concerned about fire risks and the site’s proximity to Walpole North Elementary School on Haldimand Road 55.
“My concern is, if one of these cells catches on fire and the wind is blowing by the public school, these guys are going to be scrambling on site,” he said.
Snow suggested the project might be better suited for another rural road in the area.
Dockendorff, who estimated the setback from the transmission line to the school at approximately 365 metres, said the facility will uphold vigorous safety standards.
“We have retained a third-party fire safety expert, that’s Energy Safety Response Group, and they are helping us create an emergency response plan that we have already connected with the Haldimand County Fire Department on,” she noted.
For questions about the project, residents are invited to call 437-4215238 or email Michelle.Closson@Boralex.com.