Although the official meeting agenda has not yet been released, on October 14, the Katy city council may again consider a zoning request for a special use permit for a battery energy storage system (BESS), to be located at 27051 Highway Blvd, in Katy. Ochoa Energy and its parent company, Vesper Energy, first presented their request at Katy’s meeting of city council on September 23, but the item was “tagged” – meaning it was moved to the October 14 meeting agenda -- by Councilmember Janet Corte, who had extensive questions about the safety of the facility.

The proposed 24-acre facility would house up to 200 modules similar to shipping containers holding lithium-ion batteries, which company officials said would store excess energy and then release it back onto ERCOT’s power grid when demand is high. When completed, the 500 MW system will provide enough to power about 60,000 homes for two hours, according to the company’s presentation on September 23. The project is expected to create 2 to 4 jobs locally.

The purpose of the project is to enhance electric grid reliability and to help reduce the cost of electricity for consumers, according to the company’s presentation. The enterprise is also projected to bring in $3,784,187.00 tax revenue to the City of Katy and over $11,221,834.00 in tax revenue to Katy ISD in its first ten years of operation.

The Katy project would be their first BESS project, company officials said. In addition to the Katy location, Vesper is planning to launch two other BESS sites – one in Angleton and one outside League City in Galveston County.

The Katy Times reached to Alex Rohr, community affairs manager for Vesper Energy, for additional information on the project.

Question: What about tax revenue to Waller County entities?

Answer:

Waller County

- Year 1: $859,703

- Year 2: $741,269

- First 10 Years: $4.94 million

- 40 Years: $8.79 million

Brookshire-Katy Drainage District

- Year 1: $107,637

- Year 2: $92,809

- First 10 Years: $562,726

- Over 40 years: $1.1 million

Waller County FM (a tax that goes directly to county roads)

- Year 1: $42,428

- Year 2: $36,670

- First 10 Years: $222,338

- 40 Years: $434,800

Question: What is the statistical likelihood of a thermal runaway – an event in which a battery may overheat, causing a chain reaction of overheating leading to a possible fire?

Answer: A thermal runaway on a BESS unit with safety mechanisms that will be in place on this project is no more statistically likely than a fire event at any other industrial facility. The project is located in an industrial zone.A report by DNV, which designs and implements large-scale BESS fire safety tests, reported that with appropriate safety mechanisms, as would be present with this project, that an incident leading to an injury or fatality would have the chance of occurring between once in 100,000 years and once in 1 million years. If a thermal runaway event were to occur, the air dispersion analysis created for this project shows that air quality at the project fence line would not exceed the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health limits.

Question: What other thermal runaways have been reported as new BESS operations are coming on line nationally?

Answer: Incidents have occurred at projects with older technology built and designed before many battery safety codes were implemented such as those from the National Fire Protection Association, as well as other safety measures. These projects have also generally used a different chemical makeup and/or have used an indoor building solution, which Vesper is not pursuing.

Even in those scenarios, air quality and water quality in the project’s vicinity were found to be within safe levels.

Question: What about water usage (since the BESS will be cooled, especially in the event of a thermal runaway) — what is the projected approximate water usage per month/year etc. and how does that compare to other manufacturing in the area?

Answer: The project would be expected to use little to no water during normal operations. HVAC systems would cool the individual compartments.

In the very rare event of a thermal runaway, water would be used to cool nearby containers on an as-needed basis while the thermal runaway ran its course in the affected container.


Question: If there is a thermal runway and a fire results — how would that fire compare to the recent pipeline fire in Deer Park — in terms of temperature, duration, smoke damage, etc.?

Answer: These two incidents are entirely different. A thermal runaway event related to BESS would be maintained within the single compartment and within the project boundary. Batteries utilized for stationary storage must pass large-scale fire tests in which they must demonstrate that a fire in one unit will not propagate to an adjacent enclosure. Unlike a gas pipeline, which has an essentially infinite fuel source until upstream valves are closed, a BESS site has a finite fuel source and enclosures are designed to prevent fire propagation.

A natural gas flame burning in the air will generate temperatures of around 3500 degrees F, while typical temperatures observed in battery fire tests reach approximately 1800 degrees F.

An air dispersion analysis for this site showed that in the very rare case that a thermal runaway event occurred, air at the project’s fence line would not exceed the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health limits. The study incorporated project-specific information, including five years of local wind data. The toxicity would likely be similar to a plastics or other industrial fire.

Question: How long would it take for Vesper/Ochoa to get additional personnel onsite?

Answer: The project would have personnel located in the Houston area, who could be onsite quickly. An emergency response plan would be developed in coordination with local public safety personnel that would ensure consistent communication between the company and local safety personnel. The Katy fire marshal has final approval over the response plan.

Question: Monitoring systems — in case of a power outage due to a hurricane or other disruption — how would Ochoa maintain power?

Answer: BESS units have backup power systems for the HVAC and monitoring systems.

Question: What else should the readers of the Katy Times know?

Answer: Members of the Vesper Energy team have collectively delivered more than 10 GW of energy projects globally, including BESS. Like most developers from shopping malls to neighborhoods, Vesper Energy contracts with experts in relevant fields to complete and operate development projects. The company is committed to working with industry leaders with a record of safety to plan, construct, and operate the project.

There is no runoff or emissions during normal operations. The project is quiet, screened, and inconspicuous.

The Ochoa Energy Storage team held a public Open House in June. Invitations to that Open House were mailed to project neighbors and also published in the Katy Times.