OLYMPIA — A subsidiary of a business called BrightNight LLC has proposed a battery energy storage system (BESS) in south Thurston County near the town of Bucoda, according to Thurston County information.
“The BESS will provide electrical grid reliability and help integrate renewable energy into the grid,” a project description reads.
The 228,000-square-foot proposal is set for a pre-submission meeting at 11 a.m. Feb. 13, the county information shows. Pre-submission meetings are designed to provide developers with information about what local government will expect of their projects.
According to the project description, the site, proposed between Bucoda in Thurston County and Centralia in Lewis County, will have 157 Tesla lithium-ion batteries with a total energy storage capacity of 508 megawatt hours.
“The project will be on an approximately 5.2-acre fenced site currently used for forestry,” the description reads. “The project will include construction of two (power) substations, an access road, on-site roads, parking, a 1,900-square-foot warehouse, stormwater basins and installation of a trailer.”
The whole project also will tie-in to adjacent power transmission lines, according to the proposal. One of those substations would be built for Puget Sound Energy.
The battery energy storage system will operate 24 hours per day and seven days a week, but is expected to employ 3 to 5 people for operations and maintenance.
“Staff would visit the site as needed,” the description reads.
“It is anticipated that every five years BrightNight would conduct a large maintenance event that would involve a small team of staff to perform upgrades to the facility over a period of 1-2 months.”
