Proposed Project

Safety will be built into the system at multiple levels, from the battery cell technology and individual containers to the overall facility design and emergency-response planning. The Canal BESS will use lithium iron phosphate, or LFP, battery chemistry. LFP has significantly lower fire risk than previous generation lithium-ion chemistries used in many phones, computers, electric vehicles, and older battery systems. The project will also be designed to meet all applicable state and national fire, electrical, and battery-storage safety requirements.

The batteries are monitored continuously for conditions such as temperature, voltage, and current. If something moves outside of normal operating range, automated controls will isolate and shut down the affected equipment before the condition develops further. Battery-storage safety, standards, and testing have improved substantially as the industry has matured. Reported failure rates have declined by roughly 98% since 2018, even as the amount of battery storage operating on the grid has grown rapidly.

Modern BESS facilities are designed and tested so that an incident in one container should remain isolated from the rest of the facility. Each container includes built-in fire-mitigation features such as thermal and gas detection, automatic shutdown and electrical isolation, ventilation and pressure-management systems, and fire-suppression and mitigation. The containers and the spacing between them are designed to lower the likelihood of a fire spreading from one container to the other. Depending on the circumstances, firefighters may allow an affected container to burn in a controlled manner while protecting nearby equipment, monitoring conditions, and maintaining an appropriate safety perimeter.

JERA has coordinated directly with the Sandwich Fire Department, with additional first-responder planning and training before the facility begins operation. JERA is developing a Hazard Mitigation Analysis, Emergency Response Plan, and Emergency Operations Plan with independent battery-safety specialist Energy Safety Response Group.

The Canal BESS will comply with applicable Massachusetts requirements, including 527 CMR 1.00, as well as nationally recognized battery, fire, and electrical standards including NFPA 1, NFPA 70, NFPA 855, and UL 9540. These standards address and test equipment safety, electrical protection, fire prevention, container spacing, and emergency access.