BELD looks to put lithium-ion battery storage at Braintree church

Understanding the difficulty of suppressing lithium-ion battery fires, the town’s fire chief remains concerned about the department’s preparedness and the safety of the surrounding neighborhood, should a blaze occur.

Convergent Energy and Power, a New York-based company, is proposing the construction of four trailer-like structures that together have a capacity of 5 megawatts and 15 megawatt hours. The company won a bid from Braintree Electric Light Department, or BELD, from 2022.

The structures would take up 15 parking spaces on the northwest corner of Saint Catherine Greek Orthodox Church on Common Street, where the zoning allows for "essential municipal service" as an as of right use. Convergent would pay the church $4,000 a month to use the space. The company would own and operate the batteries, and in turn are required to help BELD save money, who would pass on the savings to ratepayers.

BELD is looking into clean energy solutions as part of an effort to comply with the state’s goal of reducing carbon-emitting energy sources to 50% of the 1990 emissions level by 2030 and 100% by 2050, said the utility’s general manager Bill Bottiggi.

The state has made investments in wind and solar, Bottiggi noted, but having a place to hold energy when these sources aren’t producing enough power is part of the clean energy equation.

“The sun doesn’t shine all the time. The wind doesn’t blow all the time. So, (the state is) pushing batteries,” Bottiggi said.

While other battery storage systems around the state are larger, Bottiggi said this is “what we can do in Braintree.”

The utility was trying to avoid neighborhoods, Bottiggi said, and sought other locations, including Wood Road, Forbes Road and Braintree Hill Office Park. But they either didn’t work electrically or financially, he said.

“Any land in Braintree, unless it’s surplus, is very valuable,” Bottiggi said. “This is a piece of surplus land the church has off the back of their parking lot. That’s how we ended up there.”

The proposed site of these batteries is giving residents and the fire chief pause.

“The technology is way ahead of fire suppression, so we’re all racing against time to catch up with that,” Chief Fred Viola said.

Viola added that he was concerned about the proximity of the structures to the neighborhood on Common Street, the church itself and Route 3 to the north, if a “catastrophic fire” were to occur and evacuations would be required.The guidance for responding to one of these fires is to create a one-third mile radius, including for firefighters, the fire chief said.

Braintree has a lithium-ion battery storage facility on Grove Street, which went online in June 2018. But Viola noted that location differs from the one proposed because it’s more remote.

Lithium-ion batteries are used in cellphones and electric vehicles. Fires in lithium-ion batteries are difficult to put out. If one of these batteries is punctured, short-circuits or gets too hot, it can lead to an unending heat cycle called thermal runaway, which can cause fires.

These fires take a lot of water to put out and can reignite after being extinguished. So, the typical method of containing these fires is to let it run its course, often over several hours.

But concerned remained about the outreach to abutters about the project and how prepared first responders would be if a fire occurred.

“There isn’t a long-term strategy about public health, clean energy, transparency and public education about how people can keep themselves safe,” Braintree Town Councilor Elizabeth Maglio said during public comment. “A detailed emergency evacuation plan, I think, is the critical piece and it’s the part that everyone is having such a hard time with.”

Residents also expressed concerns about exposure to toxic fumes, should such a fire happen, and Convergent’s recent history with fires at their energy storage facilities.

During their 14-year history, only two fires have occurred, both in the last year. The first was due to a manufacturing error where water had seeped into the system and the cause of the second fire was still under investigation.

Amanda Henry, development director for Convergent, noted that each of the containers is divided into eight sections, and each of those has firewalls and fire-suppression systems.

Convergent noted that they would work further with the town and fire department on an emergency response plan, and offered site-specific training for first responders in Braintree and surrounding towns.

“I can’t say for certain that we will never have a fire again,” Henry said. “Safety is at the core of our business.”

The planning board meeting was continued to Nov. 12.

Hannah Morse covers growth and development for The Patriot Ledger. Contact her at [email protected].