We often think of the extreme left, people such as climate change warriors and transgender campaigners, as the only ones who really know how to carry out effective activism in support of their goals. So, readers will find it especially refreshing to learn about the Alliance to Protect West Carleton, a citizen group doing all the right things to prevent the installation of a massive Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) near the small Ottawa, Canada, rural community of Fitzroy Harbour.

Evolugen, a subsidiary of Brookfield Renewable Power Inc., a multinational New York City-based investment company, wants to build a 250-megawatt (MW) BESS for lithium-ion batteries within 3 km of the villages of Galetta and Fitzroy Harbour. 250 MW is astonishingly huge — indeed, it would be one of the largest BESS systems in the world. To give some perspective, consider the 230-MW Desert Sunlight Battery Energy Storage System, now fully operational in Riverside County in California, pictured below (click on the image to zoom in). The second image is a blow-up of the core of the BESS system expanded from the black rectangle in the image of the overall site (which includes a 550-megawatt (MWAC) photovoltaic power station). Only the ignorant or those with vested financial or other interests would consider all this environmentally friendly.

Fitzroy Harbour’s BESS would be on 14 acres of an 80-acre parcel of rural land at the corner of Homesteaders and Galetta Side Roads near Ottawa. About 1,600 people live within the aforementioned 3 km of the proposed site. One of the presenters at Evolugen’s November 1, 2023, public information meeting, a session mandated by the Ontario Ministry of Energy, stated that a major reason for this location was the site’s proximity and ease of access to the main power grid. Lower infrastructure costs would clearly also increase the company’s profit margin.

Alliance to Protect West Carleton reported on their website that the vast majority of the public who addressed the November 1, 2023 gathering were opposed to the project and:

“Only when pressed with questions about the safety of LFP (lithium iron phosphate batteries, the type of lithium-ion battery that Evolugen appeared to be leaning towards), did the presenter admit that the risk of fire, albeit rare, would be greater ‘if proper protocols were not followed.’ In other words, human error can increase risk. Most of the 70 residents in attendance were shocked by the lack of meaningful consultation that evening. The answers provided by Evolugen were often vague and lacking in detail, amplifying the level of mistrust. Our legitimate concerns remain unaddressed.”

In an apparent attempt to assuage public fears about the proposed BESS safety, fires especially, Evolugen hosted a YouTube presentation that was uploaded on November 29, 2023. In it, host Mike Peters, former Evolugen director of public affairs, said:

“unfortunately, you know if if we Google, there are some instances that that people are aware of that are out there where there have been, you know, some battery fires. Do you know, or or can you speak to, have any of those been with this type of Technology, with this LFP [Lithium-Iron-Phosphate] technology? Are you aware of of any incidents?”

The expert, Devin Keber, vice president of safety and compliance at a company called FlexGen, a battery management system supplier and battery system integrator that is one of the companies that Evolugen is working with on the proposed project, replied,

“uh, to my knowledge, I’m not aware of any lithium iron phosphate type battery fires, to my knowledge.”

Yet it took me only a couple of minutes on Google to find examples of LFP battery fires. South Korea experienced a series of BESS fires between 2017 and 2019, many of which involved LFP batteries. There has even been a BESS Failure Incident Database established after the lithium-ion BESS fires in South Korea and the McMicken BESS in Surprise, Arizona. Even though the McMicken BESS was a different battery chemistry (nickel manganese cobalt) and was only 2 MW, tiny in comparison with that proposed for Fitzroy, the fire in Surprise, the result of a cascading thermal runaway event, caused a buildup of flammable gases that resulted in an explosion when first responders opened the door, resulting in injuries to eight firefighters and one police officer. While this event was nowhere near as deadly as the June 24, 2024, lithium-thionyl chloride battery fire in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea, that killed 23 workers and wounded eight more, it does not raise one’s confidence in the company’s focus on safety when they make no effort to correct their “expert” on such an obvious mistake.

The Fitzroy BESS batteries would be stored in 290 shipping-container-sized steel boxes like the following:

The cost of the proposed project is $650 million (almost $500 million USD) and would be funded by the province’s IESO (Independent Energy Supply Operator), the crown corporation that regulates energy in Ontario. In other words, the taxpayer will foot the bill for this project.

Alliance to Protect West Carleton summarizes on their website their reasons for opposing the project:

“Among our legitimate concerns are fire suppression preparedness and costs, accountability and liability for damages, well water contamination, property values, environmental pollution as well as light and noise pollution. Although the chances of catastrophic damage are rare, it is unclear who would be legally responsible for reparations if the worst happens.”

To make their views well known, the Alliance organized a pen and paper petition asking City of Ottawa councillors to deny a Municipal Support Resolution for this proposal. Between May 28 and August 13, 2024, six hundred and thirty-one people signed the petition and they estimate that the petition was signed by 80-85% of the people approached. Many of them spoke passionately about their opposition to Fitzroy BESS.

The Alliances summarizes:

“We believe that every community within every ward in the city of Ottawa has the right to determine what is best for them by working together with their elected councilors and mayor. We are 100% opposed to Fitzroy BESS. We believe the benefits are far outweighed by the risks.”

Alliance to Protect West Carleton is working in cooperation with their Ward 5 | West Carleton-March [Ottawa] councilor, Clarke Kelly, who writes on his website:

“With new technology and the associated risk that has been identified, I believe that the scale of this proposal, without assurances of safety, with many details still unknown, is prohibitive to getting the much-needed support of the community.”

Councillor Kelly continues:

“the overwhelming majority of people I have heard from are not supportive of a project of this size in their community. As a result, I will not be supporting a municipal support resolution for this particular project.”

He concludes (see Councillor Kelly’s Position on Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) Proposal in Fitzroy (clarkekelly.ca) for his full statement):

“… I do not believe this particular proposal is appropriate for our community.”

It is refreshing to see a politician working in cooperation with a concerned citizen group for the good of the community.

Next week, I will delve further into the problem of battery fires and explosions. In the meantime, check out our interview with the Alliance’s Monika Miller about how she and her neighbors are working to protect their community from the threat of one of the world’s largest BESS systems.