Giant battery project coming to Brookings County

Not sure if I can get in on this with the Ray-o-vac batteries in my drawer.. but a giant energy project is coming to Brookings County for the storage of power as part of the grid:

The Cloverleaf Battery Project, as it’s known, is being spearheaded by Miami, Florida-based Spearmint Energy. If all goes according to plan, it will be built southeast of White in the vicinity of the Deer Creek Station.

The project, which is currently pegged at 175 megawatts, is part of a trend in the energy-generating industry that’s gaining steam: The ability to store excess energy generated from multiple sources, including solar power and wind energy, so that it can be used to keep the power grid stable and avoid blackouts during times of high demand.

The batteries that allow this are the same ones that power our smartphones, laptops and other devices — just bigger. Much bigger.

and..

“There’s a number of existing, high-voltage transmission lines that come together and connect to one another at this location. There’s a gas generating plant, the Deer Creek Station, there … and a couple of other facilities that come together.”

Read the entire story here in the Brookings Register.

I’m guessing the protests of the never-builders will begin in 3.. 2.. 1..

10 thoughts on “Giant battery project coming to Brookings County”

  1. This another government created industry the sucks the money out of the economy and federal coffers.He said: “He pointed out that the batteries themselves are eligible for federal tax incentives through the Inflation Reduction Act. Prior federal incentives that applied to wind and solar projects are now also available to battery projects, he said.” Lithium batteries do not function well in our winter low temps.

    1. Pretty sure the engineers and architects with PhDs and masters degrees have got insulation for the battery stations figured out. You don’t think these batteries sit out in the open so you?

      1. Anonymous at 7:38 p.m….. “The engineers and architects with PhDs and master’s degrees” do what the people who pay them want. You should really be concerned that the credentialed idiots don’t know it’s impossible to build large battery storage that won’t catch fire. Not surprising, really. This is the same crowd that’s convinced burying CO2 will save the planet.

        Your naive trust is truly something to behold.

        1. Credentialed idiots lol. As opposed to what, your noncredentialed buffoonery? When given the choice then, we should listen to some jack wagon on the internet that watched a Facebook documentary as opposed to someone who has learned from studying for years, reviewing peer reviewed journals, and hands on experience?

          1. Anonymous at 11:09 a.m….. Buffoon! I love it! I do try to stay alert to hear those who rely on facts that lead to truths, and the scientists who take that path never make wild-ass sky-is-falling predictions to scare women and little children. And really, it doesn’t take genius to figure out that all the money the feds toss around for the climate grift creates no solutions, just mischief.

  2. Queue the crazy NIMBY’s- wait for it… battery storage facilities will explode and set fire to the whole county!!! I don’t want to see those things ruin the beautiful landscape!!! Battery storage?!?! Those things emit radiation and kill people for miles!!!! Better have a 10 mile setback!!! Good thing the Brookings County Commissioners have a brain and backbone to ignore the crazies when they come out of the woodwork for the zoning and permit hearings.

    1. Anonymous at 9:52 p.m….. The best argument against such projects is thermodynamics, and no amount of government money can overcome nature. Simply mining the rare metals needed for battery storage is mind-boggling and degrades the environment — 500,000 pounds of earth must be dug for each EV, for example, and it’s thousands of times more that for even one big facility. And, yes, batteries have short shelf life and can explode, given pressure issues.

      So glad you live in a world without natural and physical constraints. Your grandpa invented flubber, right?

  3. The article did not mention type of batteries that I remember? I assume it would be lithium. The first problem with that is China controls the lithium battery production and lithium mining. That is a national security problem. The life span is maybe 20 years then we have huge problem of disposing of the toxic materials in that battery. And this is all unnecessary due to our gas, coal, and hydro generation ability. This is a woke invented crisis to control you. CO2 is not a problem in fact you are dead without carbon.

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