Plans for East Renfrewshire battery energy storage facility thrown out over fire risk

BY DREW SANDELANDS, LOCAL DEMOCRACY REPORTER

Plans to store energy in batteries on greenbelt land in East Renfrewshire have been thrown out over fears about the potential fire risk.

Over 250 objections to the scheme were sent to the local authority – but planners had recommended it could go ahead.

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Councillors voted in favour of rejecting the project, though, raising concerns over the risk of fire from lithium ion batteries – items which burned during the Linwood Enva facility blaze in June.

They also questioned whether the site was appropriate and said the energy is “not necessarily from renewable sources”.

Cheshire-based GPC 1137 Ltd wanted to build and run a 40MW battery energy storage facility on greenbelt, agricultural land at the east side of Glasgow Road, Eaglesham.

Surplus energy from the national grid would have been stored in batteries to be returned when required.

It was described as a “temporary” installation – with the site returned to its previous condition after 40 years. The firm said the development would “fulfil a vital ‘balancing role’, helping to ensure the grid remains stable at times of stress”.

It added: “It will also help support the decarbonisation of the grid by enabling the grid to accept a greater proportion of electricity generated from more intermittent renewable sources of energy such as wind and solar.”

However, the council received 252 objections with concerns over the visual impact, residential amenity, the loss of greenbelt land and health and safety, including fire risk. In a report to councillors, planners said the scheme could be approved.

One told the committee that the council was “entitled to expect that it’s run safely”. The applicants submitted a safety plan which outlined how fire risk would be minimised.

Cllr Paul Edlin, Conservative, said: “Lithium ion batteries have an inherent risk of fire, you can’t deny that. This is sited near the village of Eaglesham. A child could be walking down that road or on its bike and the thing explodes. There is a risk.”

He also said the “temporary” timeframe of 40 years was “beyond most of the lifetimes of many of the people here [the planning meeting], including myself”.

A planning official said the proposed energy storage facility itself was not a health risk so long as it was operated safely – but admitted: “We can’t control if something happened to it.”

The proposal was considered just months after the recycling centre in Linwood which seeks to recycle lithium ion batteries caught alight.

Enva’s WEEE (Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment) Solutions facility went up in flames on June 23 when the snap, crackle and pop of lithium ion batteries exploding filled the air.

The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service has been unable to find a cause. The Eaglesham application was defeated with four votes to two.

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