Industrial Property In Ellicott Sold For Battery Storage | News, Sports, Jobs - Post Journal

Sep 3, 2024

Donnie Sheehan with Granite Source Power speaks to members of the Chautauqua County Industrial Development Agency’s Board of Directors about a battery storage project he would like to install in the town of Ellicott. P-J photo by Gregory Bacon

About 12 acres of vacant land in the town of Ellicott that is difficult to develop is being sold to a company that plans to use it for battery storage.

While the sale of the land has been approved, the battery storage containers are not expected to be in place for a few years due to the various studies needed.

The Ellicott property is on Dow Street, south of Allen Street. It’s bordered by Casella Waste.

County IDA Chief Executive Officer Mark Geise said the property is “oddly shaped” and parts of it are sloped. “It’s really not good for a building or what we would traditionally do typically in a business park,” he said.

Donnie Sheehan with Granite Source Power had approached the county IDA about purchasing the property, in part because of its close proximity to the National Grid Substation.

The county IDA agreed to sell the property for $75,000. Geise said they had an appraisal done, which came back lower than what Granite Source Power was offering.

Donnie Sheehan with Granite Source Power said they’re looking to install a 100-megawatt battery storage project there.

The 12 acres are made up of two parcels. One of the parcels is landlocked and the other parcel runs along National Grid’s high tension transmission lines.

Geise said he spoke with Ellicott Town Supervisor Janet Bowman who expressed her support for the project.

Sheehan said on the land he would like to place battery storage containers. “Think of it like a shipping container that you would see on a freightliner,” he said.

Inside the containers would be racks of modules made up of batteries. “Those batteries are just buying and selling energy back and forth to the grid,” he said.

Sheehan told members of the county IDA that this project will take several years of studies before any containers are installed.

They would like to have enough battery storage containers to hold 100 megawatts on the property. “It could be more but we’re still evaluating the grid,” Sheehan said.

Sheehan said the state takes two years to evaluate the grid. If the state gives its approval, the next step is procuring the equipment, which can take another two years. “I stand before you today, but we might not put a shovel in the ground for another four or five years. It’s just the nature of this type of development,” he said.

Sheehan said the cost of the entire project could be as high as $100 million. Because of that, he will likely apply for financial assistance in the future.

In the resolution to approve the sale, the IDA is giving Granite Source Power two and a half years to seek financial assistance.

In addition, the developer is given up to six years to start construction and complete the work in seven years.

If the developer fails to meet the deadlines, the county IDA has the option to buy back the property at a lower cost than it is selling it for.

By selling the property now, IDA officials noted the developer will immediately begin paying property taxes. At the same time, it also allows Granite Source Power to move forward with the necessary applications.

Sheehan called this a “low impact” project. “Once it’s there it’s controlled remotely. There’s no traffic coming in and out. We put a fence around it or sound walls. We’ll do noise studies to make sure we’re not negatively impacting anything,” he said.

Sheehan called the project “very safe.” At the same time he said they will be meeting with local firefighters to ensure they are prepared. “I have specialists that we fly out and we prepare for the worst in every scenario. We make sure the fire department is equipped with training and gear that they need should the worst happen,” he said.

Because of the type of project it is, Sheehan said it will not create any new permanent positions, but will create a number of construction jobs to get it up and running.

The resolution to sell the property was unanimously approved.

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