Barona Community Long Duration Energy Storage Project
Summary
SCH Number
2024080511
Public Agency
California Energy Commission
Document Title
Barona Community Long Duration Energy Storage Project
Document Type
NOE - Notice of Exemption
Received
Posted
8/14/2024
Document Description
The proposed project will demonstrate a zinc bromine flow (ZBF) battery energy storage system (BESS) technology to provide resilient and economical energy supplies for essential Tribal facilities in the Barona Group of Capitan Grande Band of Mission Indians of the Barona Reservation (Barona Band Reservation) community in Lakeside, within the investor-owned utility service territory of San Diego Gas and Electric. The ZBF BESS will integrate existing and planned distributed energy resources (DER) to provide resilient and economical energy supplies for essential Tribal facilities. The proposed ZBF BESS, with a nameplate capacity of 1.5 Mega Watt (MW)/6.6 MW hours (MWh), has the ability to discharge at least 100 kilo Watt for durations up to 24 hours, and as much as three MW for short durations. Demonstrating these capabilities will deliver greater resiliency and grid-infrastructure benefits and lifetime energy cost savings over competing technologies. The project will demonstrate a technology that is more flexible, allowing 100% depth of discharge without impairing BESS capacity or lifespan, and achieving MWh-scale battery hibernation to substantially eliminate self-discharge. This technology will avoid the safety, flammability, and recyclability drawbacks of Li BESS technologies.
Contact Information
Name
Sean Anaya
Agency Name
California Energy Commission
Job Title
Electric Generation System Specialist
Contact Types
Lead/Public Agency
Phone
Location
Cities
Lakeside
Counties
San Diego
Regions
Countywide
Cross Streets
Wildcat Canyon Rd and Barona Road
Zip
92040
Other Location Info
1932 Wildcat Canyon Rd
Notice of Exemption
Exempt Status
Categorical Exemption
Type, Section or Code
Cat. Ex. Cal. Code Regs., tit. 14, §15301
Reasons for Exemption
Cal. Code Regs., tit. 14, sect. 15301 provides that projects which consist of the operation, repair, maintenance, permitting, leasing, licensing, or minor alteration of existing public or private structures, facilities, mechanical equipment, or topographical features, and which involve negligible or no expansion of existing or former use at the time of the lead agency’s determination, are categorically exempt from the provisions of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). The proposed project will consist of the installation of a microgrid system at the reservation of the Barona Band of Mission Indians in Lakeside. The microgrid system installation will be a minor alteration to an existing facility within the interior of the reservation with no expansion beyond the reservation operation. Additional minor alterations to topographical features include minor grading and/or trenching for concrete pads. This project will result in negligible or no expansion of use beyond that already existing. Therefore, the project falls within section 15301 and will not have a significant effect on the environment. Vehicle trips associated with the construction of the project will be temporary and the operation of the microgrid system will result in a negligible number of regular operational trips for maintenance. BMPs will be used during installation and
operation of the micro grid system. Therefore, no adverse effects to offsite air or water quality will occur as a result of the project. The installation and operation of the microgrid system would not substantially degrade the existing visual character or quality of off-reservation visual resources, as the system components are not visually obtrusive.
Exempt Status
Other
Type, Section or Code
Common Sense, Cal. Code Regs., tit. 14, sect. 15061 (b) (3)
Reasons for Exemption
This project is also covered by the Common Sense Exemption under Cal. Code Regs., tit. 14, sect. 15061 (b) (3) that CEQA applies only to projects which have the potential for causing a significant effect on the environment. Where it can be seen with certainty that there is no possibility that the activity in question may have a significant effect on the environment, the activity is not subject to CEQA.
This project will take place on tribal land, but off-reservation impacts must still be evaluated under Government Code section 12012.101(b)(2), but this project is exempt under the “common sense” CEQA exemption because the proposed project will not:
• construct on or alter any off-reservation land;
• impact local air quality;
• use groundwater resources or otherwise impact any off-reservation water resources;
• build additional transportation infrastructure;
• generate additional traffic volumes;
• increase, once the project is complete, ambient noise beyond the existing commercial activities; or
• degrade the visual character or quality of off-reservation views, including those of scenic resources or objects of
aesthetic significance.
Compared with the current supply of energy, the proposed project will improve energy resiliency for Tribal facilities and
the local electric grid, as well as reduce overall energy demand on the local energy provider and lower fossil fuel usage
and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Because the proposed project will improve air quality and reduce GHG emissions, and does not provide for any physical changes outside of the Indian reservation, it can be seen with certainty that there is no possibility that the proposed project may have a significant effect on the off reservation environment. Based on all these factors, the proposed project meets the CEQA “common sense” exemption. The project does not involve impacts on any particularly sensitive environment; will not impact an environmental resource of hazardous or critical concern where designated, precisely mapped, and officially adopted pursuant to law by federal, state, or local agencies; does not involve any cumulative impacts of successive projects of the same type in the same place that might be considered significant; does not involve unusual circumstances that might have a significant effect on the environment; will not result in damage to scenic resources within a highway officially designated as a state scenic highway; the project site is not included on any list compiled pursuant to Government Code section 5962.5; and the project will not cause a substantial adverse change in the significance of a historical resource. Therefore, none of the exceptions to categorical exemptions listed in CEQA Guidelines section 15300.2 apply to this project, and this project will not have a significant effect on the environment.
Attachments
Notice of Exemption
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