Zero Emissions Energy Storage (Batteries) are more economical & environmentally friendly than Gas Power Plants

Dear committee,

I'm a local community member who is opposed to this Gas power plant proposal, as I want to see Nova Scotia move towards clean breathable air, clean water, and zero emissions in power generation for our families and communities. I have a PhD in lithium ion battery technology from Dalhousie, specializing in improving the lifetime and lowering the cost of batteries by minimizing the amount of critical minerals used.

Over the last decade, I've worked closely in the battery industry in electric vehicles and grid scale energy storage in silicon valley. The cost of deploying battery energy storage systems (BESS) has exponentially decreased over the last decade, with recent prices for lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries at $30/kWh. I strongly urge the committee to reconsider this gas power plant that is expected to operate for the next 30 years in favour of zero emissions technologies, like LFP BESS. In addition to stabilizing the grid and providing power when wind and solar are intermittent, BESS also has numerous other economic benefits over gas power plants. When connected to a power grid, BESS provide load shifting, peak shaving services, frequency regulation, and ancilliary services that all have economic and technical benefits over a gas power plant. After installation, batteries are not subject to supply chain distruptions and price fluctuations like natural gas is, meaning that their operation and economics are more predictable for the next 50 years, in addition to being more sustainable. Battery systems are faster responding than natural gas is, and able to provide more reliable back-up power in emergencies.

These benefits of BESS have proven themselves repeatedly on the grids of California and Australia, where there is significant renewable solar energy as well as batteries installed. As an example, the Hornsdale Power Reserve in Australia was the largest battery installation in the world in 2017 when it began operations at 100 MW peak power and 129 MWh storage capacity. It was the first large scale project to show how profitable grid batteries can be, with an internal rate of return of 30% and a payback period of only 3 years, with the batteries projected to last 15+ years. Since then, battery technology has further improved with cheaper and longer lifetime batteries available on the market today.

Another solution is to integrate Vehicle to Grid (V2G) technology, using the batteries that already exist in the electric vehicles of Nova Scotians to do the same services as a centralized BESS would. 

We are finally at a point in history where we have the luxury of choosing a solution that is both economically profitable and simultaneously ecologically sustainable, with no emissions, no air pollution, no water pollution. I hope the committee chooses wisely for the health of fish, animals, settler community members, Mi'kMaq community members, and our whole global human population. After all, the acceleration of climate change caused by this one gas power plant will impact people all over the globe, particularly in coastal communities and low income communities who do not have the voice to stand up to this project.

I would be happy to answer any technical questions and use my expertise in batteries to help the committee in designing a sustainable energy storage system for our province to transition to zero emissions. Please reach out and let me know how I can help. I genuinely care about our province's future and I want to help.

Wishing you a lovely and sustainable day,

Eniko

Sources: 

1) Meng, Y. Economic Analysis of Centralized Energy Storage and Impact on NEM. IOP Conf. Ser. Earth Environ. Sci. 2021, 680 (1), 012004. https://doi.org/10.1088/1755-1315/680/1/012004.

2) Plumer, B.; Popovich, N. Giant Batteries Are Transforming the Way the U.S. Uses Electricity. The New York Times. New York May 7, 2024. https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2024/05/07/climate/battery-electricity-solar-california-texas.html