A battery energy storage facility planned for vacant land in a light industrial park in Santa Maria has received approval from the city’s Planning Commission.
Planning commissioners voted 3-0 to approve the project planned for a vacant 1-acre site at 2916 Industrial Parkway in the Skyway Industrial Park. Commissioner Tom Lopez abstained, and Tim Seifert was absent.
“The site itself is pretty perfect for a battery energy storage facility,” said Brian Madigan, senior permitting manager for Renewable Properties, which intends to own and operate the facility.
The project would involve installing eight battery storage containers measuring 32 feet long by 12 feet wide by 10 feet tall.
“They essentially look like the trailer on a tractor-trailer truck,” said Frank Albro, a senior planner for the city.
Four storage inverters, 19.5 feet by 12 feet and less than 10 feet tall, also would be installed on the site.
Fencing about 7 feet high when including the barbed wire at the top would surround the site with a masonry wall on the front side and chain-link fencing elsewhere.
Facilities like this one store energy from renewable energy resources, such as solar or wind, for use during the night or other times as needed.
“With greater and greater electricity coming from renewable sources, battery energy storage is becoming a very important component of our resource mix and will help advance the penetration of renewable resources in general,” Madigan said.
Battery storage facilities provide versatility that enhances the reliability of the electrical grid, Madigan added.
The system can be operated remotely with staff visiting about once a month for maintenance purposes, Madigan said.
Noise associated with battery energy storage sites typically comes from the inverters and climate control units, but Madigan said the levels should comply with the regulations and not disturb any neighbors.
Commissioners added a condition to require the applicant to provide acoustic data for the equipment at the time of applying for their building permits. They typically look for flat sites with access to roads and electrical grids to house battery storage facilities.
The 10-megawatt project would store up to four hours of power that would be provided to Central Coast Community Energy, which serves parts of Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties plus Monterey, San Benito and Santa Cruz counties.
The Santa Maria project would interconnect to Pacific Gas & Electric Co.’s distribution system, which is adjacent to the site.
Santa Barbara County and the City of Goleta have approved larger battery energy storage facilities in their jurisdictions.
— Noozhawk North County editor Janene Scully can be reached at jscully@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.