Large “Front-of-the-Meter” Battery Energy Storage Systems (“BESS”) are critical to efforts to achieve Grid Reliability while also battling climate change. Large Battery Energy Storage Systems allow existing Generation Capacity to be resilient enough to handle fluctuations in our demand for energy without using fossil fuel plants to meet those needs. Rapid deployment of Large BESS Projects will be immensely important over the next 10 -15 years.

A commercial landowner in Virginia was looking for a trusted and knowledgeable partner to help them navigate the many complex issues involved in developing a large “Front-of-the-Meter” Battery Energy Storage System on their 15 acre property. RER was selected thanks to its true partnership approach combined with its extensive technical knowledge and project development experience.

The property sits near a utility substation and was a prime candidate for a BESS to manage voltage variability and reduce electrical congestion for the local grid. The RER Energy Group team designed a staged approach for developing BESS projects on the site, including an initial 50 MW Phase I project, with the potential for an additional 80 MW Phase II project.

Efforts on the Phase I project began in earnest in the summer of 2021, with the RER team coordinating the work of civil and electrical engineers, interconnection specialists and applications, as well as title and easement analyses. As the property was previously used for a wide range of commercial applications for over 100 years, much of this permitting work was complex, and required lots of creative problem solving by our team. That said, within 16 months this project was sold to the storage subsidiary of a prominent utility, a great success for our partnership with this landowner.

“With the passing of the Inflation Reduction Act, this type of opportunity will be available to many property owners, particularly those situated near electrical substations and high voltage lines” said Jim Kurtz, President of RER. Over the past two years, RER has consulted with many other landowners to explore this opportunity “We are particularly excited to bring our transparent partnership model and deep project development experience to ensure landowners are getting a fair deal when they participate in this critical, complex and fast-growing energy storage market.”

RER is committed to helping reduce transmission congestion while creating a cleaner, more reliable, and more cost-effective Grid infrastructure.