Displaying items by tag: Key Capture, Luther Forest, Stillwater, Dan Fitzgerald, Marty Vanags, Prosperity Partnership, lithium ion

STILLWATER – Four large energy-storage units resembling shipping containers will be installed next year in the Luther Forest Technology Campus, as part of a statewide effort to supplement the existing electric grid with alternative sources of power.

A Texas company, Key Capture Energy, announced in late October that it has received the necessary site-plan approvals from planning officials in the Town of Stillwater for its battery-storage units.

The four oversized units will utilize “cells” or “modules” and lithium ion to supply 20 megawatts of power to an existing New York State Electric and Gas (NYSEG) substation.

Dan Fitzgerald, the chief development officer and co-founder of Key Capture Energy, said the state’s energy grid “needs to respond faster” to fluctuations in electricity supply as more projects get approved involving renewable sources of energy, such as solar panels and wind turbines.

The installation of individual lithium-ion battery units is part of New York’s plan to generate 50 percent of the state’s electricity needs with renewable sources by 2030.  

Pending further approvals from NYSEG and local officials, Fitzgerald said Key Capture’s 1.5-acre project in the Luther Forest Technology Campus is expected to be complete by the summer of 2018.

On Oct. 23, Stillwater planners conditioned their approval on the provision of fire safety training as well a letter of credit by Key Capture Energy. An additional 100-foot buffer from Cold Springs Road in Stillwater must also be factored into the final site plan.

“We are delighted to assist Key Capture Energy in advancing this next-generation facility, which represents a significant investment in the economic, energy and environmental future of Saratoga County,” offered Marty Vanags, president of the Saratoga County Prosperity Partnership, in an Oct. 26 statement.  

He is working with other members of the county agency to move the Key Capture Energy NY 1 project forward.   

Vanags indicated that he is familiar with other types of battery-storage units, including the solid-oxide fuel cells that reportedly will be installed near the Home Depot in Wilton to supply that particular store with 210 kilowatts of electricity.

He also admitted to his own personal use of a battery-operated lawnmower, which captured the attention of at least a few people who approached Vanags to inquire about such a quiet machine. 

The Key Capture project and others similar to it are “not big job producers,” Vanags added, but they do help maintain the state’s electrical supply and, in general, stimulate economic growth in local areas.

“You’re going to see a lot more of these…attaching themselves to the grid,” he said.    

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