A specific kind of development has been assigned new Washington County zoning requirements: battery energy storage facilities.
The county’s board of supervisors voted unanimously last week to put special permits in place for projects involving large industrial installations that store and distribute power to the electric grid. The regulations apply to storage facilities that have a capacity greater than 600 kilowatts per hour and, with the approval of a permit, they can be built only in light and heavy industrial zones.
With the ordinance in place, the supervisors will have to vote to approve any battery energy storage projects. Lightshift Energy, an Arlington-based energy storage developer, has expressed interest in building one in Washington County, according to county officials.
The projects would likely only be built in places near electrical substations, said Stephen Richardson, the county’s planning commission coordinator.
“They don’t want to be very far away because you lose all your efficiency,” Richardson said. “You lose your current the longer the line is.”
Combined with the new zoning restrictions, the only viable places would likely be in industrial parks, he said.
There are three Appalachian Power substations around Abingdon: the Hillman Highway Substation, South Abingdon Substation and Arrowhead Substation. The power company also operates a major facility at Highlands Business Park near Glade Spring.
Data centers have begun using energy storage systems to act as a buffer for voltage spikes and reduce reliance on diesel generators, and utility companies have begun to install them too. Earlier this spring, the Salem-based Blue Ridge Power Agency announced it was pairing with Lightshift to deploy energy storage installments across five sites in the region.
In addition to the projects in Salem, Lightshift is also seeking federal approval for an energy storage installation at Highlands Business Park. The company is leasing a parcel there for $10,000 annually until it gets the proper permits, and then it plans to buy the property, County Administrator Jason Berry said by phone.
It should be beneficial for anyone using the grid, Berry said, since the facility would be able to stabilize it and prevent blackouts. Appalachian Power uses the lines the facility would attach to, and its parent company, American Electric Power, also feeds power through those lines to multiple other states, he said.
Lightshift declined to comment on the Washington County project. Once the company buys the property, the board of supervisors would have to vote to approve the development plans now that the stricter zoning regulations are in place.
Though battery energy storage facilities require no onsite jobs, it would bring in more business property tax revenue for the county, Berry said.
“For us, it’s more of a tax generator than a job generator,” he said.
Other than Lightshift, there has been no other interest in battery energy storage projects in Washington County, Berry said.
