Axminster: Plans for battery storage facility solar farm on Devon border approved, despite fears over fire risk

By Local Democracy Reporter Trevor Bevins

Fears over the risk of fire and the effect new buildings will have on the landscape have failed to convince Dorset planners to reject a battery storage facility at the solar site at Wyld Meadow Farm in Monkton Wyld.

Several residents and Hawkchurch Parish Council claimed fire from a lithium-ion battery was possible and, if a blaze did break out, might be difficult to contain.

But the operators of the solar park, which is close to the Dorset-Devon border, dismissed the claims saying the facility would fully comply with all the relevant safety standards.

Dorset & Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service and Dorset Council's environment protection team raised no objection to the application, with a council report concluding that sophisticated monitoring systems should detect any malfunction and shut down and isolate any faulty container.

In response to complaints about possible noise from the site, the operators produced a noise impact assessment which claimed that even the nearest residents were unlikely to be able to hear anything from the site above background noise levels, even when working at full capacity.

A report produced by an acoustic specialist concluded that low frequency noise from the transformers was predicted to be lower than the threshold of hearing and, even at night when it is quieter, would only be slightly above background noise even for the closest property, 80 metres away. Other properties are at least 520 metres away.

The proposed development is for six battery storage containers, similar to shipping containers, with a single transformer and six inverter units on a site of approximately four acres.

The site is on farmland between Wyld Warren woodland to the south and east, with the operational solar farm to the west and north, with trees and hedgerows lining the northern and eastern boundaries, shielding the proposed buildings from view.

The solar farm, over 27 acres with more than 20,800 panels, produces about 4.8MW of power, enough for 700 homes, and has been in operation since 2013.

Most of the dozen-plus objections to the application have a nearby postal code address.

Hawkchurch Parish Council, in its objection, claimed: "This proposal as it stands represents a significant risk to both public health and the environment as it is predicated on the use of Lithium-ion batteries.

"This type of battery has resulted in a growing number of fires and explosive events in Battery Energy Storage Scheme (BESS) installations. In some cases, these have resulted in the loss of life. While the probability of occurrence is low, the hazard is major and can have catastrophic results.

"If a fire occurred in a BESS container sited as proposed we believe this would lead to an unacceptable risk to both the local population, firefighters, and the environment.

"While the probability of a fire is low, the hazard can be rated as critical or catastrophic leading to a medium to high-risk rating overall. This hazard increases with scale.

"As well as the direct hazard from fire, there are also hazards from the release of flammable and toxic gases, such as carbon monoxide, hydrogen chloride, hydrogen fluoride, hydrogen cyanide, benzene and toluene. These gases are generated within the cell enclosure before venting.

"When gases come into contact with water (from rain or from attempts to control the fire) then corrosive chemicals such as hydrofluoric acid result."

The fire service said emergency staff have been fully trained to deal with a battery energy storage scheme incidents, should one ever occur.