(Gretna) — A company has abandoned their plans for a battery storage facility near Gretna.
East Point Energy is asking to withdraw its siting agreement and its Special Use Permit application.
“In parallel with meeting with community members to receive feedback and discuss the project, East Point conducted a review of costs needed to connect the project to the power grid,” said lead developer Chris Meyer in a message to Pittsylvania County Community Development Director Emily Ragsdale.
“This review revealed electrical system improvements would be extremely costly. Given the material costs to connect the project to the grid, we have decided not to move forward with the project.”
The 60-megawatt Simpson Energy Center would have been built on nearly 200 acres off of Spring Road. Original plans called for it to link to the Dominion Power grid through a 69-kilovolt transmission line, using lithium ion batteries.
The Pittsylvania County Planning Commission last month voted to delay consideration of a Use Permit so developers could meet with neighbors to address concerns about fire hazards.
With the withdrawal, there will be no public hearing on the siting agreement at the Pittsylvania County Board of Supervisors meeting this week, nor for a Use Permit before the Planning Commission next month.
East Point still plans to send a fire safety expert to the Fire and Rescue Commission meeting this week to ensure that the volunteer fire departments get the necessary information to evaluate battery energy storage projects in the future.