Local opposition, permitting struggles stall progress on Northland Power’s 1GWh BESS in New York

Although useful for enticing initial financial commitment, such schemes aren’t useful for developers if projects are blocked by local authorities at the outset.

As recently reported by Energy-Storage.news, some governing authorities are stopping at nothing to prevent BESS, with Staten Island Borough President (BP) recently announcing plans to file a lawsuit to halt construction of any storage projects within his jurisdiction.

Acting as another prime example of developers encountering opposition in New York, the US development arm of Canada’s Northland Power was recently dealt a huge blow in its efforts to deploy a BESS within the Empire State.

First presented to local authorities earlier this year, Northland Power proposed to retrofit a 250MW/1,000MWh lithium iron phosphate (LFP) BESS to its operational 108MW Ball Hill Wind Farm, located across the Towns of Hanover & Villenova in Chautauqua County.

However, after initially postponing a vote on the BESS addition in order for officials to carry out further research, all five members of Hanover’s Town Board unanimously voted to reject the Northland Power proposal during a meeting held this week.

During initial and follow-up hearings, residents raised concerns over the proposed project’s proximity to a local school and potential contamination of nearby Lake Erie in the event of a fire at the facility.

Whilst carrying out community outreach, in an attempt to win over concerned residents, Northland Power has pointed to the financial benefits to the community associated with deployment of the BESS, alongside the company’s commitment to fire safety.

“We are committed to follow all recommendations developed by the NY Inter-Agency Fire Safety Working Group,” wrote Northland Power in one of its Powerpoint presentations to the local community.

With commercial operations scheduled for 2028, Northland Power had hoped the project would count towards New York’s 6GW energy storage target. The developer also planned to secure a 15-year agreement with the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) as part of its Bulk Energy Storage Program Implementation Plan.

Along with halting progress of Northland Power’s Hall Point BESS addition, the Hanover Town Board voted to enact a six-month moratorium on the approval of any new energy storage facilities, during which time officials plan to devise laws governing storage facilities destined for the town.

Although some authorities, such as those in Hanover, are choosing to come up with their own BESS zoning laws, others are opting to follow guidance issued by the state. As recently covered in Energy-Storage.news, officials at the Town of Riverhead in Suffolk County recently dropped plans for a moratorium in anticipation of an overhaul to New York State’s Fire Code.

Energy-Storage.news has reached out to Northland Power enquiring how it intends to move forward with the project. However, the moratorium and denial don’t appear to bode well for the future of the project.

According to local news outlet The Observer, Northland Power officials were previously quoted saying that if a moratorium were to be enacted, the company would focus its attention on other projects.

Conversely to the company’s fortune in the US, Northland Power last week celebrated a huge milestone after its flagship Oneindia Energy Storage project located in Ontario was placed into commercial operations.

Delivered ahead of schedule and under budget, the 250MW/1,000MWh BESS takes the top spot for Canada’s largest operational BESS.

In related news, the City of Glen Cove on Long Island became the latest NY municipality to enact a moratorium on new BESS facilities this week, after passing new laws restricting the technology during its most recent city council.

The prospect of a moratorium was introduced by council members during a meeting held last month, during which several members of the public pledged their support for the temporary ban. During the recent meeting, council members unanimously approved the moratorium on the grounds that the technology was not yet safe enough.

This most recent moratorium follows similar decisions made by the NY municipalities of Babylon, North Hempstead and Smithtown who have all enacted temporary bans on energy storage.

Another developer affected by opposition in New York is East Point Energy, which recently withdrew plans for a 116MW BESS after officials at the Town of Carmel indefinitely banned the deployment of new utility-scale storage.