Bryan County commissioners Scott Goad, Justin Boone and Brandon Carr in a meeting last week approved a Tax Increment Finance District (TIF) for a Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) to be built near Colbert.
This is the first TIF for the county.
According to the Oklahoma Department of Commerce, a Tax Increment Financing (TIF) is a public tool that reallocates newly generated tax dollars for up to 25 years for supporting development or redevelopment in certain limited areas of a city, town, or county. In Oklahoma, the terms and conditions for using TIF are provided in the Local Development Act enacted by the state in 1992 and has been amended several times. Tax Increment Financing is used to help generate private development projects, through the funding by tax dollars, for public improvements and other eligible project costs.
Peregrine Energy Solutions isinvestinganestimated $270 million to construct the BESS. The BESS will draw energy from the power grid during times of low demand and discharge that energy back into the grid as needed during times of high demand. The project substation regulates energy output and connects to the local substation.
Benton Blaine is the site locator for the project and he said that Peregrine Energy Solutions focuses on utility scale energy storage.
“Energy storage systems allow us to capture some of that energy when it’s being produced and put it back in the grid when it’s needed,” Blaine said, during a prior meeting with commissioners when the TIF was first proposed. “The way the energy storage system works is when there is low demand and therefore low prices, you charge the battery.”
The site will be located on approximately 40 acres to be owned, optioned, rented, leased, or otherwise in the possession and control of the company and located around the east side of Highway 69/75 at the south end of Freda Circle near Colbert.
The TIF will be effective on Jan. 1, 2027 and last for 20 years.
According to the Peregrine Energy Solutions website, the share of renewable energy in the power sector is expected to reach 85% by 2050 with 8 states mandating over 7 GW of battery storage and the expectation that more will require batteries as part of their Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS). Independent System Operator (ISO) queues are currently overloaded and storage has the optionality to streamline development hurdles in effort to fast-track project completion.
Battery costs continue to decline, according to Peregrine, and reductions in system costs will enable greater amounts of energy storage to be installed in the U.S. Future battery technology changes will further reduce costs by increasing inherent battery safety and energy density, both of which have a positive impact on energy storage systems costs.