Mike Hyer, 63, takes a golf cart around his private gated community west of Calgary, circling the area, which includes $750,000 cottages and $300,000 vacant lots on the east end of Ghost Lake Reservoir.
Heyer stops on the embankment overlooking Ghost Lake and the Bow River. He points to a nine-acre (3.6 hectare) site where TransAlta hopes to build a 180-megawatt battery energy storage system, believed to be the largest of its kind in the province.
The batteries will be charged from a nearby hydroelectric dam. About 360 megawatt hours of electricity will be stored and then sold to the provincial grid during periods of peak demand.
Heyer, speaking on behalf of roughly 60 other homeowners in the Cottage Club complex, says TransAlta chose the wrong location for the lithium-ion batteries that have failed and caught fire in a number of incidents around the world in recent years and injured first responders.
Despite the company’s efforts to block him and his community from participating in the Alberta Utilities Commission’s (AUC) review of the project, Heyer says he needs to speak before the AUC’s hearing on the project later this summer.
“We don’t think it was that well thought out. We feel our community has been shut out of the floor,” he said.
Heyer is also disappointed that some of the maps submitted by TransAlta to AUC do not highlight or designate the Cottage Club community as residential.
Mike Hyer says this project location map does not highlight or name the Cottage Club community, even though at least eight properties are within 400 meters of the proposed battery energy storage system. Most of the community is 800 meters from the site. (Submitted by Mike Hyer)
Heyer, who has five children and six grandchildren, worries about the risks associated with a potential fire and noxious fumes that could reach his community, which is between 350 and 800 meters from the proposed battery site.
He says reports indicate the fires are difficult to put out and can burn for days.
Heyer says TransAlta didn’t do a good enough job of consulting and engaging with him and his neighbors who raised concerns about the risks.
Collage of images of a fire at a battery energy storage system near Melbourne, Australia, in July 2021 (Twitter)
Residents also raised concerns about the aesthetics of the site, noise, light pollution, dust, traffic safety, the use of firefighting chemicals and seepage into the Bow River and the impact on property values.
TransAlta declined to answer specific questions from CBC News about the project.
“In the interest of fairness to all parties, we believe it is important to follow the AUC process and reserve any comments until the proceedings are complete.” We look forward to participating in the AUC’s thorough and timely review of our application and the involvement of all stakeholders,” the company said in an email to CBC.
At least eight Cottage Club properties, 40 kilometers west of the Calgary city limits, are within 400 meters of a proposed battery energy storage facility. (Brian Labby/CBC)
Instead, TransAlta provided links to a series of reports and documents it submitted to the AUC as part of its application — topics include the project itself, community engagement, fire risk and plume and emissions analysis.
The company says it followed project notification rules set by the AUC and consulted dozens of people who live within 800 meters of the site.
TransAlta unsuccessfully tried to block Heier and the Cottage Club from participating in the AUC hearing process, citing a restrictive covenant on individual properties that prevents homeowners from interfering with TransAlta’s operations. AUC denied the company’s request.
“They just didn’t want to hear anything from us, and the committee made it clear to them,” Hyer said.
Heat run is less likely
TransAlta says it plans to use a type of lithium-ion (lithium-ion) battery that is least likely to go into thermal runaway, one of the main risks associated with lithium-ion batteries.
Thermal runaway occurs when a battery cell reaches an uncontrollable self-heating state, according to UL Research Institutes. Thermal runaway can result in extremely high temperatures, smoke, fire, and the release of gas, shrapnel, and particles.
Water was released from Ghost Lake Reservoir into the Bow River last week. TransAlta is proposing a 180-megawatt battery energy storage facility along the south bank of the river. (Brian Labby/CBC)
According to air quality dispersion modeling and a risk assessment commissioned by TransAlta, certain types of lithium-ion batteries can fail, leading to spontaneous combustion and thermal runaway.
Fires can burn for days and require tens of thousands of liters of water to extinguish or cool adjacent battery cells. Some fire officials said the best way to fight the fires is to let them burn out, something that can take days.
The report said TransAlta plans to use lithium-iron phosphate batteries, which are said to be less toxic than other types of lithium-ion batteries. It says the two main hazardous compounds from a potential fire are hydrogen fluoride and carbon monoxide. The company says it plans to include smoke and gas detectors in all battery packs, which will not exceed 200.
Noxious fumes contained on site
The consultant concluded that emissions from the fire would exceed Alberta’s ambient air quality goals within the battery, but would dissipate by the time they reached the Cottage Club and would not pose a health or safety concern.
“All projected air quality concentrations beyond the TransAlta property boundary and in the nearest residential and recreational area meet the AAAQO (Alberta Ambient Air Quality Objectives),” the report states.
TransAlta plans to build a 180-megawatt, two-phase battery energy storage system next to Ghost Lake Reservoir. (TransAlta)
“The IDLH (Immediately Dangerous to Life or Health) will not be exceeded at or beyond the BESS (Battery Energy Storage System) site fence line for the hazardous air pollutants.”
“The risk to the public and local residents of a fire associated with the type of battery cells proposed for this BESS is low.”
“Safety is paramount to TransAlta and is a key factor in determining battery type, battery placement and our emergency response plans,” the company said in a separate filing in December 2021.
A separate environmental assessment of the project — conducted for TransAlta — says there is not expected to be a “significant adverse environmental impact” on terrain, soils, groundwater, vegetation or wildlife species.
Consultations, engagement
In a submission to the AUC, TransAlta outlined its strategy for community engagement and consultation. It includes an initial project bulletin that was sent in October 2021, followed by project updates in November and December.
Project leaders met with the community’s condominium board and residents in the fall of 2021 and held a virtual meeting attended by 10 people. About 300 property owners, most of them in the Cottage Club, have been notified of the project. Project staff reached 62 property owners during door-to-door visits and nearly 400 calls and emails were sent or received by the company.
At the time, the company said that COVID-19 restrictions meant it would not host an in-person town hall meeting. The community invited TransAlta to an open meeting, but the company declined, saying it didn’t receive enough notice.
TransAlta did not respond to a question about its attempt to block the owners of the Cottage Club from participating in the AUC hearing.
The Cottage Club community has expressed concern about TransAlta’s proposed battery energy storage system immediately downstream of the reservoir. (Brian Labby/CBC)
The county approves the project without input
Heyer says he and his neighbors are disappointed Rocky View County exempted the project from a land rezoning and development permit that would have prompted a public hearing.
The county’s planning manager said in a letter to TransAlta that the battery energy storage system is “ancillary infrastructure” to the hydroelectric facility, so no land use or development approval would be required.
Mike Hyer worries about the potential risks associated with a proposed battery energy storage system near his home. (Brian Labby/CBC)
TransAlta listed the land-use rezoning as “necessary” in its planning materials. She had also prepared a public announcement for its implementation.
“We haven’t had any consultation in our district,” Hyer said.
“So they just approved it, and what would normally be a mail-in process where the community would be engaged because we’re so close to it, there’s absolutely zero engagement.”
“I mailed my 40-square-foot office in my attic to everyone in the community,” he said.
“When it comes to a $120 million project, right at our fingertips, there’s nothing,” he said.
The AUC hearing is scheduled for three days starting August 3.
Brian Labby is a corporate reporter at CBC Calgary. If you have a good story idea or tip, you can contact him at bryan.labby@cbc.ca or on Twitter at @CBCBryan.
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