Neighbours unite against plans for battery site over fire risk concerns

RESIDENTS living near Styles Close in Frome have joined together to oppose plans to build a battery energy storage facility in the heart of their neighbourhood. They say it would pose a potential fire risk to nearby properties.

Sites such as the one proposed would store excess renewable energy so it can then be used for future consumption. The developer, Trina Solar UK Holdco Ltd, has submitted plans for the facility with a capacity of around 30mw at land north of Styles Close, which would sit just 50 metres from the nearest home.

Residents have raised concerns over a potential fire risk as the facility would use lithium-iron-phosphate battery technology which, if caught fire, they say could quickly engulf nearby houses.

Jan Webster, whose house would back onto the proposed site said, “We don’t know how long a life the batteries would have, so we don’t know how long they will last. Lithium reacts instantly with water to create highly flammable hydrogen and although they will most likely try to assure us that they have taken all of this into account, there is a brook at the back of the field and the area sits on the flood plain. Combine this with increasingly volatile weather and we have the potential for a disaster.”

Another resident, Wendy Miller-Williams added, “There’s so much wrong with this plan – it feels like it hasn’t been thought out properly at all. There’s so much concern by fire chiefs around the country about sites like these, like in Norfolk, where the fire chief there says she is having sleepless nights over the potential fire risk. How can we ever get peace of mind when we know there is the potential for so much to go wrong?”

The residents have also been in discussion about a potential evacuation plan, given that there is only one entrance to the site, which is between homes at Styles Close.

Jan added, “It speaks volumes that we are even talking about evacuation plans. As there is only one access route, it would make life particularly difficult if we all needed to get out of the area should there be a disaster at the site.”

Sites such as the one proposed in Frome are not currently regulated by planning law, but the Basingstoke MP, Dame Maria Miller, has proposed an amendment to the Energy Bill that would see the Environment Agency, local fire services and the Health and Safety Executive consulted before plans are given the green light.

In the planning document the applicant says, “Electricity in the UK has historically been generated by large, centralised fossil fuel power plants. However, as the country transitions to a low carbon economy and strives towards a decarbonised electricity network by 20351 as part of its wider net zero ambitions, these older carbon intensive technologies are increasingly being replaced by intermittent renewable energy sources, such as wind turbines and solar farms.

“This shift towards renewable and low carbon energy is positive, yet brings with it challenges in balancing the UK electricity network. As such, there is a growing demand from network operators for a broad range of services such as storage and management. One of the ever‐present challenges of deploying renewable energy necessary to achieve decarbonisation of the grid, is that peak periods of generation often do not coincide with peak periods of demand.”

SLR Consulting, the company representing Trina Solar UK Holdco Ltd, were contacted for comment. Frome Town Council will meet on Thursday 10th August to discuss the plans and make a recommendation. Somerset Council will make a final decision on the plans by the end of the year.

You can view the plans in full by searching 2023/1070/FUL on Somerset Council’s planning portal.