A Private Members Bill is calling for England’s fire and rescue services (FRSs) to be made statutory consultants in the planning applications for proposed industry lithium-ion battery storage facilities.
According to the Basingstoke Gazette, the bill was put forward by MP for Basingstoke, Dame Maria Miller, and has been backed by Hampshire and Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue Authority (HIWFRA). It comes after a new storage facility has been planned for Basingstoke with many other new sites also expected.
"The current planning regulations take no account of the proven fire risks of lithium-ion battery storage,” Maria said.
Speaking at a recent HIWFRA meeting, chief fire officer Neil Odin said:
“She [MP Maria Miller] has a Private Members Bill in the process for consideration. Her Bill was asking for lithium-ion to be included in the Cobra regulations, now control of major accident hazards regulations. Those regulations, if included, require the direct consultation of all local authorities organisations.”
The use and storage of lithium-ion batteries in residential and industrial settings have been a mounting concern for FRSs, with Neil adding, “The problem we have with lithium-ion is that it does catch fire, which sadly has been very difficult to extinguish because of the type of reaction inside the battery. If you put water on it, you contaminate, and if you don’t, then you contaminate because the smoke enters the atmosphere.”
The potential hazards of Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS), particularly those located in residential areas, were highlighted by Miller at a recent House of Commons debate. With over 90% of UK electricity storage capacity in lithium-ion batteries, Miller acknowledged there was a significant reliance on them but questioned whether enough was being done to mitigate the fire risks they present:
"We need to increase power storage, but the potential fire risks associated with lithium-ion batteries are now becoming widely acknowledged.”
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, Andrew Bowie said in response to Miller’s remarks:
“It is a priority for this Government that all net zero energy infrastructure is built, operated, and maintained in an appropriate and safe way. My officials work closely with the industry-led electricity storage health and safety governance group to ensure an appropriate, robust and future-proofed health and safety framework is sustained as storage deployment increases.
"I have been working with colleagues across government to establish the appropriate treatment of these facilities in planning and environmental regulation. Every site should be considered on its own merits and is a decision for our local authorities."
In addition to making local fire services statutory consultees for industrial lithium-ion battery storage planning permission applications, the Private Members Bill seeks to make provisions for the granting of environmental permits for industrial lithium-ion battery storage.
As Neil explained: “Certain places which are chosen for these developments, we would argue are not appropriate, so they are perfectly okay in some areas, but when you put them next to, perhaps, a delicate watercourse or near a piece of infrastructure like hospitals or schools, that could be more challenging for us as fire and rescue services.
“We have the Hobson’s choice of either letting it pollute the air and close down hospitals or schools, or attacking it and polluting the watercourse. So, either way, we are going to face challenges from the Environment Agency.”
Speaking about the Private Members Bill, Neil added: “It seems like we may be getting some progress in terms of actually getting some sense of becoming a statutory consultee in terms of this particular provision, but general planning rules still do not include us in terms of statutory consultation but when it comes to lithium-ion, it may well be included in some amendments somewhere, but it probably won’t go as far as the cover regulations.”
The bill's first reading took place in September 2022, with a second reading now scheduled for November 2023.