Plans submitted to build battery storage system on land in Burnley but concerns raised by Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service
Plans have been submitted to build a large grid scale 152 mega watt hour battery storage system at land off Balderstone lane Heasandford industrial estate.
The application by Suir Engineering has been described as “very alarming” by one member of the public who contacted the Burnley Express to voice their objections.
Concerns were also raised by Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service.
Lister Haworth, station manager, stated: “There are numerous issues on which the application fails to meet health and safety guidelines recently issued by the government as well as by the association of national fire chiefs.
“These issues include a lack of adequate water supply to fight a fire or thermal runaway, the wrong type of fire suppression system (an inert gas system which will not deal with thermal runaway), lack of alternative access route for fire engines, no plans for dealing with toxic gases and heavy metals in case of a fire and thermal runaway of the batteries.
“It points out the battery units appear to be too close together and there are no plans on how to deal with toxic water run off which will be produced in a large quantity in the event of fire or thermal runaway occurring and the fire service having to cool the batteries with water.”
Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service also point out the proximity of housing and water courses to the site.
The original plan had been given approval by the planners on July 20th 2023 in spite of concerns expressed by LFRS which have not been addressed in the new application to vary the plan.
Details can be found on Burnley planning portal ref VAR/2024/0241