OBSERVER Photo by M.J. Stafford Representatives of an apartment renovation project that seeks to install a Battery Energy Storage System speak to the Fredonia Planning Board.

Representatives of a project renovating Fredonia’s Middlesex Apartments pleaded their case for a small Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) recently.

They appeared before the Fredonia Planning Board to discuss the BESS. The planning board is supposed to write a letter of recommendation on what to do about the BESS to the Fredonia Zoning Board of Appeals. The zoning board has final say in this case because the BESS would require a special use permit, as it is in a residential zone.

Good Carbon Co. of Buffalo, a real estate/energy developer, is handling the Middlesex Apartments renovations. The BESS would be constructed by Viridi, another Buffalo outfit.

Richard Reese of Good Carbon said the apartments will be heated and cooled by geothermal, fully electric systems. A small BESS is desired as a backup in case of a power outage, he said.

The BESS would be located outside the apartment complex, near the corner of Middlesex Drive and Central Avenue, “as far behind the building as we can put it.”

A representative of Viridi said the BESS would be monitored remotely from Buffalo. It would contain a built-in “anti-propagation system” in its concrete base that is supposed to help stifle fires.

“I’m sure you understand these BESS systems have been a hot topic,” said Planning Board Chairman Brian Luce. A series of BESS fires across the country have stoked fears about the safety of the systems.

The Viridi rep replied that the company developed its anti-propagation system “because we don’t have a ‘let it burn’ mentality.” However, he didn’t want to give too many details about it, stating that it was proprietary information.

“You’re surrounded by residential. … I just want to make sure it’s safe. Is it that critical that you have to have it?” wondered Luce.

Reese stated that it would be essential to the tenants in a power outage. Asked if there was an alternative to a BESS, Resse said a diesel generator could be used.

Discussion turned to the wooden fence that is supposed to surround the BESS. “It’s like putting a wooden fence around a bonfire, (if) something happened, God forbid,” Luce said. He suggested a brick fence instead of wood so it looks like the brick-faced Middlesex Apartments.

Reese said the fence is “purely for aesthetics.”

Fredonia Fire Department Chief Joshua Myers attended the planning board meeting, and asked the project representatives about providing training on fighting BESS blazes, as well as the UL 9540 safety standard data for their proposed unit. While neither company provides the training, Myers was told he’d get the data.

“I can’t answer right now if the Fredonia Fire Department could properly fight a fire in that BESS, without that data,” he said.

Charles LaBarbera, Fredonia’s top code enforcer, spoke up with what appeared to be words of encouragement about the BESS and the apartment project it is attached to.

“This is a $6 million project they’re doing,” he said, adding that chargers for electric powered cars will come with every unit. “The chances of this needing more power are pretty good.”

Noting the promise to Myers about the UL 9540 data, Luce said a letter would be going to the Zoning Board. He did not say what the letter would recommend.