Councillors defer battery storage scheme decision for more substantial fire safety information
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Members of the north planning committee unanimously voted to wait until more substantial fire safety management information could be presented before determining the application.
Toftingall Wind Limited wants to build a battery energy storage system (BESS) just to the west of Loch Toftingall on a 1.3-hectare compound, to feed the grid at times of peak demand.
That would mean 52 battery storage containers and 13 invertor units with two switchgear and control buildings as well as hardstanding, parking and a new access to the A9.
But councillors baulked at the proposal as it did not come with a fire risk management plan. Officials suggested that it could be secured by condition before the construction could start about a mile from the Munsary-Shielton section of the Flow Country.
Both turbines dropped from Loch Toftingall battery storage plan
The area planning manager north, Michael Kordas, noted that fire detection and suppression equipment would be installed and “individual equipment can be shut down and isolated pending maintenance checks.”
He said: “Given the proposed use and general concerns regarding fire risks associated with lithium battery facilities, the applicant has been requested to provide information regarding the management of fire risk on site and procedures to control fire in case of a fire event.”
Chairman of the committee, Councillor Drew Millar, proposed the move to defer arguing that this is not the first nor likely to be the last BESS the council will have to decide on – yet there is still a lack of guidance on fire safety.
“I think we need guidance sooner rather than later,” he said. “A lot of these battery storage units are going to be going in remote rural areas and whether they are close to the ground and energy sources so it is a bit worrying where outside Inverness we don’t have a full time fire service.
“I am strongly of the view that we have a duty to ensure that the public are as strongly protected as they can be when taking a decision as elected members. Fires in one of these facilities can take days to put out.
“So I would move that we defer this application until the June meeting of the north planning committee to allow officers to write to the fire service for a formal consultation response and to send a further letter to the chief planner.
“And one of the reasons I am saying that is that it is within the power of the planning committees to ask the fire service for a planning response even though they are not part of the formal consultation process.
“I want to inquire if the local station has the capacity, has the resources, is trained and equipped should an incident arise at a battery storage facility so that as members we have a clear conscience when making a decision about the Highland community we represent.”
