Amid a patchwork of moratoriums blocking the construction of large-scale battery storage facilities on Long Island, Brookhaven Town said Friday it is poised to welcome one of the first new battery storage units. batteries to be built since LIPA approved two units in the East End. in 2018.

Construction of a 1.9-megawatt battery facility is expected to begin in two weeks on property owned by Brookhaven Town in Patchogue. The facility will be built behind an existing city vehicle repair garage and impound lot on the property, at 550 North Ocean Ave., near Sunrise Highway.

The facility is flanked by a funeral home on one side, a church across the street, and houses to the west and north with a wooden buffer. City Attorney Annette Eaderesto said its location at the back of the yard would keep it a safe distance from neighboring homes. The city fire marshal reviewed and approved the site plan, she said.

Fran Lunati, who led Brookhaven residents in opposing a much larger battery storage facility proposed in Holtsville, said she was “shocked” to learn the town had approved the facility without the public participation.

“I had no idea,” she said. “My fears are still there. They engage in these activities without safety being their first priority… I find that it is simply too close” to homes.

Brookhaven Town will receive about $10,000 a year in rent for batteries installed on its land and a 10 percent reduction on its energy bills, Eaderesto said. As city-owned land, the property is tax-exempt, so the battery developer, Agilitas Energy Inc., will not pay taxes.

“It’s not a big project,” Eaderesto said. The batteries will be kept in four separate containers behind the vehicle repair building, she explained, and surrounded by trees when completed. “It will be fully screened,” she said.

Brookhaven approved the Holtsville project, which officials say is needed to help store energy for the Sunrise Wind Park, which has long been supported by the city and will bring in more than $100 million in community benefits and payments taxes over more than two decades. The Holtsville facility is to be located on land off the Long Island Expressway’s south service road, just west of the Island 16 movie theater.

The Sachem Central School District filed a lawsuit to block this project, along with many local residents, including Suffolk Legis. Anthony Piccirillo (R-Holtsville), raised objections to its proximity to homes, schools and businesses.

Brookhaven is among a handful of Long Island towns that have not declared a moratorium on battery storage units, which came under scrutiny after a fire at a facility in East Hampton last May. Two other units experienced fires in the upstate and Gov. Kathy Hochul convened a task force to review them and implement stricter fire safety codes.

Patchogue’s storage unit will be a lithium-ion battery, like others around the state and country. Eaderesto said batteries are key to the green energy transition because the wind doesn’t always blow and it doesn’t always shine, so the grid needs backup power. “If you want to do green energy, you need these batteries,” she said. “Brookhaven Town believes we can have them and they can be safe.”

The facility occupies “only a small corner” of city-owned land, Eaderesto said. “It’s an area we’ve hardly used,” she said. “We tried to keep him away from the houses.”