FERGUS – Residents are concerned a battery energy storage system facility planned for just south of the Fergus will have a lasting negative impact on the community.
Several residents and community groups attended a public meeting at Centre Wellington council Monday evening to share their concerns about an application from Aypa Power which is seeking a zoning amendment to 15 acres at 6235 Guelph St. at the intersection of 2 Line and Guelph Road for a battery energy storage system facility (BESS), which was supported by council last November.
BESSes are rechargeable batteries that can store energy from different sources during off-peak hours and onto the electricity grid when needed while reducing the province's reliance on fossil-fuel generation.
Construction is currently planned for Fall 2025, with the lands planned for decommissioning and restoration in 2052.
A final report will return to council at a future date.
Anticipated to generate up to 211 MW of energy storage, the proposed facility would house approximately 200 batteries and 64 inverters, an interconnection substation, a water reservoir and a stormwater management facility. It would be remotely monitored.
According to the township's current zoning bylaw, the amendment is required because while BESSes are permitted as an on-farm diversified use on up to two per cent of a prime agriculture lot, the use cannot take up more than one hectare.
The proposed amendment is a problem for former Wellington Federation of Agriculture (WFA) president Janet Harrop, who said the idea behind permitting BESS on prime agriculture lands as a secondary use was intended to give farmers a way to generate additional income.
Opposing the application on behalf of the WFA, Harrop said it's hard because she knows the decision to lease the land was a "financial one" for the current property owners but the group is concerned about how the proposed use will impact soil long-term.
"Operating a farm is an asset-rich, cash flow-poor business with long hours, uncertainty and tight margins. We do recognize that but the WFA does not speak globally on behalf of individual producers, we speak on behalf of agriculture as a whole, " said Harrop. "We appreciate the opportunity to provide an agriculture perspective ... soil is and has always been more than mere earth, it's the lifeblood of our community's growth, sustenance and prosperity. Continued loss of prime ag land risks our industry by death by 1000 cuts."
Using a fire at Aypa's Brantford facility in September as an example, longtime Fergus resident Anthea Millikin said she's concerned about the facility's fire risk and the potential impact on existing and future residents living nearby.
"This isn't a question of supporting green technology ... I think that when you examine this closely and consider all elements, you will see that the potential short-term and long-term, serious and considerable harms outweigh any of the suggested benefits," said Milikin. "This zone change is the best opportunity to stop this from going ahead."
Submitting a letter against the application, resident Paul Roberts agreed, saying he lives two kilometres away from the proposed site and believes it's "far too close for his liking or safety."
"In watching all the expense and hard work that has been put into the South Fergus development over the many years, it would be totally unforgivable for an American company to torpedo all the many year's efforts by installing an environmentally and dangerous 20-year possible disaster in this location," said Roberts in his letter. "Tell them no and not in our township ever."
Save Our Water's Donna McCaw also opposed the application due to safety concerns, requesting the township consider "significantly reducing" the facility's size or saying no to the whole thing to reduce the development's potential impact on the surrounding community, air, ground and surface water quality.
Do your due diligence, do your research, bring in experts, if you need to. This is a very, very serious decision. Think of the scale. Think of the dangers. Think of the options before you make any kind of decision here, please." McCaw said.
Many residents concerns were mirrored in the councillor's questions during the meeting, with several saying the proposed facility's "close proximity" to Fergus secondary plan lands is a "big problem."
Director of Business Development at Aypa, Ondrej Benjik said Aypa has accounted for the secondary lands in the facility's design and one way they're working with it is by including a "significant" 600 ft setback from 2 Line.
Coun. Jennifer Adams asked why Aypa has proposed 211 MW, which would provide six per cent of Ontario's IESO goal in Centre Wellington when the township represents 0.002 per cent of the province's population.
Benjik said there are only so many transmission lines across Ontario that can accept the project size and it happens that the transmission lines running to Centre Wellington have that available capacity.
When asked what makes Aypa so confident they won't experience a Brantford situation here, vice president of policy and regulatory affairs for Aypa, Pabst said the company "cannot say with certainty our areas won't experience a fire."
The township's fire chief Tom Mulvey said they've been in contact with the Brantford department to compare strategies. He also clarified the township has a "robust mutual aid system" which can help if necessary.
Aypa is also proposing comprehensive fire safety code compliance, developing a project-specific emergency response plan with local fire and 3rd party organizations, a layered fire safety plan and 24/7 remote monitoring system.
Commenting on the soil concerns, Pierre Chauvin from MHBC planning, who was retained by Aypa, said rehabilitating the soil on the site is possible and would be similar to the process aggregate sites undertake.
Isabel Buckmaster is the Local Journalism Initiative reporter for GuelphToday. LJI is a federally-funded program.
