Ottawa approves new regulation for battery storage

The official plan and zoning amendments set policy direction for siting BESS within Ottawa’s rural and urban areas.
Battery energy storage systems situated in a clearing of a wooded area with green trees and a small pathway.
Image: Wikimedia Commons, Z22

A city committee has passed new regulations establishing land use policy for companies looking to build battery energy storage systems (BESS) in Ottawa.

According to the approved official plan and zoning amendments, BESS proponents will have to show Ottawa Fire Services (OFS) that effective fire and safety risk management has been incorporated into the design. They will be required to install fire prevention and suppression systems, and provide OFS with site-specific training.

The rules approved by the Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee on Thursday apply to developments in both rural and urban areas. They recommend a minimum setback of 150 meters from “sensitive land uses”, such as residential buildings, daycares, place of
worship, schools, or other community centers.

A maximum size limit to a percentage of the lot area is also defined depending on the zone. Specifically, the new regulations establish a maximum size limit of 20% of the lot area within commercial, industrial, institutional zones.

While the province is the regulator and owner of electricity generation supplies, municipalities have siting authority over new proposed renewable energy generation and storage projects, such as BESS. 

The approved report also includes an approach to managing future requests for Municipal Support Resolutions (MSR) that are associated with a BESS. A MSR is the mechanism the Independent Electricity Systems Operator (IESO) uses to have municipal governments endorse the energy projects that IESO procures. Under the proposed process, requests for MSRs that are associated with a BESS project are to be brought forward as part of a zoning by-law amendment, and decisions on the MSR and the zoning amendment would be recorded as separate decisions.

The new regulations will go before the Planning and Housing Committee on February 5 before it rises to City Council on February 12.

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  • Marija has years of experience in a news agency environment and writing for print and online publications. She took over as the editor of pv magazine Australia in 2018 and helped establish its online presence over a two-year period.

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