by David Flint
The boom caused no damage, but it did shake people’s houses and caused considerable consternation in the neighborhood. Apparently another flywheel at the Beacon Power frequency regulation plant on Grange Hall Road disintegrated last Thursday night, October 13, between 9 and 9:30 pm. A previous such incident occurred on July 27. This time Sam and Marcia Sowycz who live directly across the road said they had just arrived home when they heard a loud boom and, “It felt like the whole house shook and shuddered.” They then met some neighbors out on the road who reported that their houses shook also and one of them said he smelled smoke. At that point the Sowycz’s called 911.
The Stephentown Fire Department arrived within 15 minutes. Two engineers from Beacon Power happened to arrive shortly thereafter, Director of Manufacturing Bob Downing and Field Services Supervisor Sebastian Kokar, who reside in Hancock, MA, as on-site caretakers of the plant. The engineers said they had come to retrieve something from the visitor center building and were unaware of an incident until they arrived and found the Fire Department at the plant. They then admitted officers of the Department into the plant and found that a flywheel in “Megawatt 3” pod had malfunctioned and disintegrated. Downing said that the disintegration had been contained and that this time, unlike in the previous incident, the concrete cover of the containment vessel had not blown off. No other damage was done to the plant, he said, and although the one pod of ten flywheels was automatically shut down, the rest of the plant was functioning normally.
Fire Department Assistant Chief Rik McClave said that the Department had been alerted by two 911 calls, one of them from a residence out on Route 22. He confirmed that the concrete cover of the containment vessel had not been disturbed. McClave said on Tuesday that the Fire Department had not yet been in contact with Beacon Power regarding the incident.
Mrs. Sowycz, standing that night in the dark with her husband outside the plant gates with a worried look on her face, stated that, “The very thing that we felt [during permit hearings] would happen is starting to happen.” Later she recalled that she had expressed concern to the Planning Board about an explosion and fire that occurred during a test at Beacon’s manufacturing plant in Tyngsboro, MA, in December 2006. They were told, she said, that that was a test and they guaranteed such a thing should not happen here. Sowycz wondered whether there might not have been other incidents across the road that have not been reported. She complained, too, about the constant noise – a sort of up and down rumbling hum – coming all the time from across the road, which sounds to her like a tractor trailer truck constantly moving by. She said they have to keep their windows shut and the dogs have been acting skittish since the plant started up. “We are very concerned,” Sowycz said, “We are stuck here. Our house is worth peanuts.”
Another resident who lives on Route 22 about 500 feet from the plant said that he heard the boom and his whole house shook. He thought at first that a tree had fallen on the house. Then his son went outside and said that he smelled something like burning wires. A neighbor a short distance up Route 22 is hard of hearing, but he reported that there was a “muffled explosion” and his mobile home shook. He also thought that maybe something had blown down or perhaps his tractor had come crashing down off of its jacks. But then he began to detect a strong smell. “Sort of a mix of short circuit and old fuel,” he said. He then met neighbors over by the plant, and it was suggested that someone should call 911. This resident, a former firefighter, was concerned about a second such incident in a short period of time, and he suggested that the emergency response agreement with Beacon is questionable. Beacon did not seem to be immediately alerted to a problem, yet he understands that the Fire Department is not permitted to enter the plant on their own. He wondered what would happen in the event of a major accident.
Bob and Nancy Myers also live on Route 22, about 220 feet behind the Sowycz house. They said they were watching television when they heard what sounded like a big sonic boom. It was a noise they had heard before, possibly on July 27. They did not feel any shuddering or shaking of the house, but the incident adds to concerns that they have long had about the Beacon plant. They thought that not enough investigation had been done regarding the possible effects of underground vibrations or the possible emanation from the plant of some unknown electronic radiation. The couple said they would be interested in meeting with someone from Beacon Power if they cared to come and explain to neighboring residents why they should not be concerned.
Gene Hunt, Beacon Power’s Director of Media Relations, said that an investigation is ongoing. Both flywheels that failed, he said, are part of a group of eight that are different from the others. The operating speed of the remaining six units has been reduced while the investigation is conducted.
Hunt noted that since the plant became partially operational in January of this year it has achieved one million flywheel operating hours. Since reaching full capacity in July, the plant has been online and ready to provide regulation service at a rate of 99.2%. In the past week, he added, the plant also completed a 100 hour performance test that is required by the New York Grid Operator as part of the tariff under which Beacon operates.
“During this time there have been two failures out of 200 flywheels, on July 27 and October 13,” Hunt said. “A 1% failure rate is not uncommon for new technology. Indeed, it is within this project’s warranty replacement projections and budget. In both cases, the flywheel isolation management system functioned as expected, ensuring minimal secondary damage (e.g. to adjacent flywheels) and allowing the plant to continue operating at its full 20 megawatt capacity. There was no fire. A non-toxic dust that is emitted during one of the failures was cleaned up.”
Hunt wanted to assure people that the Company has taken steps to reduce the likelihood of similar occurrences in the future, including improved quality control and inspection processes and adjusting flywheel speeds as needed. “We will continue to review operational guidelines and plant safety procedures and make appropriate adjustments. We have also instituted a more comprehensive set of emergency response protocols that will escalate the notifications depending on what occurs. We have always had an engineer on call 24/7 who receives a text message if something goes wrong and that was in fact the case last Thursday,” Hunt said. He explained that the local Beacon people who were on their way to the site at the time of that failure actually got there before they would have been notified. In any case, they would have been called or texted very soon after it happened. “Since last week we have already implemented a more detailed notification system that will alert more people as needed based on a hierarchy of potential issues,” Hunt said. “A flywheel failure obviously is at the top of that list and would result in more alerts being sent. In that way more Beacon staff will be made aware and can act faster and more appropriately.”
“Although people may feel differently, and we understand that it can be an emotional issue,” he added, “we want to assure the Town that the plant is safe. We will continue to improve our monitoring and response procedures as well as take all necessary steps to ensure continued safe operation.”
