Provincetown, Mass. approves Eversource battery storage project
The residents of Provincetown, Mass., voted unanimously at a recent town meeting to approve a lease for Eversource to operate a community battery storage project at the town’s transfer station
The community battery will provide backup power to customers in Provincetown, Truro, and Wellfleet. It is expected to provide ten hours of backup power in the winter and as much as three hours at the peak of the Outer Cape’s busy summer season. According to Eversource the battery would improve reliability by 50 percent for customers in Provincetown, Truro, and Wellfleet and defer the need to construct 13 miles of distribution line.
“We’re proud to be building this community battery project in partnership with the Town of Provincetown, and we’re excited to deliver a clean energy solution to our customers on the Outer Cape,” Eversource Director of Clean Energy Development Charlotte Ancel said. “The project is a strong example of how clean energy transformation can help enhance system resiliency and reflects our commitment to serve as a clean energy catalyst for the region and an environmental steward for our customers.”
The project will consist of a lithium-ion, 25-megawatt, 38-megawatt-hour battery system housed inside a Cape-style building.
“This project will be a great benefit to rural communities like ours,” Provincetown Town Manager David Panagore said. “Eversource estimates this project will eliminate roughly half of our power outages entirely, and when it can’t it will provide precious hours to prepare for an extended interruption. Our working partnership with Eversource on this project is an example of our commitment to meeting the needs of our residents and finding clean energy solutions.”
The project is one of two Eversource battery storage projects approved by the Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities. The second proposed community battery project is a 14.9 MW facility on Martha’s Vineyard.
Construction on both battery storage projects is expected to start at the end of the year with a goal of beginning operation by the end of 2020.
