OBSERVER Photo by M.J. Stafford Josh Drellack (left), chief development officer for GCI, discusses plans for a power storage facility off Brigham Road with the Dunkirk Planning Board Wednesday.

A battery facility for storing grid-generated electricity had its preliminary site plan approved by the Dunkirk Planning Board this week.

The vote was 4-0. Board member Ed Schober had to leave before the vote was held, but said he wanted to table the plan so everyone could have more time to study it. His suggestion was not taken.

Familiar City Hall face Richard Morrisroe, the former city attorney, joined officials from GCI to lobby for the preliminary approval. The project won’t go forward until the Planning Board approves a final site plan.

GCI’s group also asked the board to declare itself the lead agency on a State Environmental Quality Review for the project, entitled “Lighthouse Energy Storage.” The board approved that, too.

The approval of the preliminary site plan is contingent on reviews by the city fire department and its Department of Public Works.

It was emphasized the project is at least two years away from beginning construction. GCI officials also repeatedly asserted that the project is safe overall, with sophisticated automated fire protection and other safety features.

The GCI crew also pointed out that the project is at least 1,700 feet from any residence. The project would be well off Brigham Road, west of where Seventh Street dead-ends, in what is currently woods. The project site address is 853 Brigham Road.

As the Planning Board meeting began, a letter was distributed from DPW’s top two officials. Director Randy Woodbury and Deputy Director Mike Przybycien expressed concerns about fires and a nearby wetland.

“We develop utility-scale, stand-alone battery systems,” said Mitch Bauer, GCI’s founder and president. “We don’t do solar, we don’t do anything else.”

The Lighthouse Energy Storage project would be “basically a utility substation that will have battery containers in the facility,” said Josh Drellack, GCI’s chief development officer.

Each unit would be a 20 foot-by-10 foot shipping container filled with batteries. Utilty-sized transformers would also be installed “to take that energy and put it into the grid,” Drellack said.

The units are designed by Elon Musk’s company, Tesla. “We’ve come a long way in developing these projects over the last 10 to 15 years,” Drellack asserted. There have been many changes and upgrades to make utility-sized battery storage more safe and reliable, he said.

Each unit will have built-in, remotely monitored fire protection systems, he said. “Over the years they’ve designed these systems in a way to contain a fire.”

Drellack was asked if there will ever be any on-site monitoring by their people. He said that will not be a regular thing — but touted the remote monitoring, stating that someone will be keeping an eye on the site via computer “24-7.”

Sound from the battery arrays would not be constant, Drellack continued. The highest sound level would be about 75 decibels from 10 meters away, equal to the sound level of conversation, he said.

Bauer said GCI is willing to discuss changes to its preliminary site plan, if needed. He expressed willingness to do a sound barrier fence, though he doesn’t think it’s necessary because the project is set back so far from any residences.

“Most people will not be aware this system is here, once it’s in place,” Bauer said. “They certainly won’t be able to smell them or feel them.”

The project would have a 250-megawatt capacity — approximately the same as Dunkirk’s mothballed NRG plant, he said. It would offer the same financial benefits as NRG to the city without the environmental drawbacks, he added. (Bauer did not mention that NRG used to employ hundreds of people, while it’s unclear if GCI will make many — or any — local hires for the Lighthouse Energy project.)

Bauer said that fires at similar systems across the country happened with “prior versions of the system that didn’t have some features we are using today.”

Morrisroe emphasized that the project is still in its conceptual phase and is at least two years from starting construction. He also pointed out the project is not solar or wind-driven — “This is a way of capturing that energy, regardless of where it’s coming from.”

He touted the project as a way “to put a lot of money in the coffers” of a city that is facing severe financial problems. Morrisroe acknowledged, “This isn’t the job creator some had hoped for — but it’s something.”

When Planning Board members wondered some more about fire protection, Morrisroe suggested that GCI could offer supplemental funding for the protection.

Planning Board Chairman Chris Piede seemed satisfied with the presentation. “A lot of questions were answered,” he said.