Below is the article on the Battery Storage facility from the latest Newsletter. If you would like to complete the online petition please go to the link below. Our community needs its voice heard and the more people that sign the petition the more our voice will be heard.
https://benartycc.org.uk/2023/12/01/petition-to-the-energy-consents-unit-of-the-scottish-government/
The Benarty Community Council (BCC) were made aware of a proposal to site a 200MW battery energy storage system (BESS) facility in the fields behind the new housing development at Lochtyburn, stretching almost to the electricity sub-station on the Westfield Road, ie on what was formerly Kirklands Farm.
If the proposal goes ahead, it will be the biggest BESS in Europe. The biggest in the world is in California, USA.
Due to the size of the proposed development, it cannot be dealt with by Fife Council. It has to be dealt with by the Energy Consents Unit of the Scottish Government.
The company proposing the facility are required to consult with the public before applying for planning permission. AAH Planning Consultants, acting on behalf of the company, held four consultation sessions in the Benarty Centre. Two were held on the 14th September and two were held on the 28th September. Each session was open for 3 hours. Their purpose was to allow residents of Benarty to see the plans for the BESS and to ask questions of the consultants.
The BCC also held a special meeting on 21st September to discuss the proposal and to agree a list of questions for the company to answer. A list of 44 questions were asked in a letter to AAH Planning Consultants. In addition, the reply received by the BCC had a further 43 questions and answers provided by a company called Apatura (a renewable energy consultancy). This is the company who will operate the development if it goes ahead.
All the questions and answers are shown in the following table. As you will see, not all the BCC’s questions were answered. The comments in blue italics are the author’s.
|
No |
Questions from
Benarty Community Council |
Answers from
Company |
|
1 |
Does the Westfield Sub Station have the capacity to accommodate this development? |
In order for a battery storage facility to be viable, there must be capacity on the network.
The Westfield Substation was chosen as it has the necessary capacity for a battery storage development. |
| 2 | Will there be additional battery storage facilities added to this site in the future? | There are no plans at this stage to add any more MWs to the proposal. |
| 3 | What will be the planned backhaul connection feed from the plant to the substation? | Westfield Substation is located approximately 0.55km to the south east of the site and the scheme will be connected to the substation via an underground cable, likely running along the road network. |
| 4 | What sort of consultations will be undertaken for the connection? | Not answered. |
| 5 | What site work/construction will be involved in the connection? | Not answered. |
| 6 | How long is construction of the full facility expected to take? | The exact timeline for the construction of the development is yet to be confirmed. However, battery storage developments typically take 9-12 months to complete. |
| 7
8 |
Were other sites, locally, considered, eg Westfield where there is already development going on?
If yes, were the owners of that land approached? |
Not answered. |
| 9 | Are there plans in place in case of flooding and contamination of land from either material leaked from the batteries or loose due to fire, in particular in connection to the burn nearby? | Not answered directly but see answer to Q75. |
| 10 | Who currently owns the land that is proposed for the battery storage facility? | Not answered. |
| 11 | Is the land being purchased by the company or leased? | Not answered. |
| 12 | The consultation boards at the consultation of 14th September in Benarty Centre say that Green Power Consultants are the developer, yet their website says they work with landowners. Are Green Power Consultants working on behalf of themselves or someone else? | Not answered directly but see answers to Qs 47 & 50. |
| 13
14 |
Can the company confirm that the boundary line has, in fact, been moved further away from the houses?
Can the company confirm that it won’t be moved back up against the fences, to accommodate more battery storage units, at some point down the years? |
The redline has been moved away from neighbouring properties. The final scheme will be as far away from neighbours as possible.
There are no plans at this stage to add any more MW to the development or move it close to neighbouring properties. |
| 15 | What are the plans for the space in-between the back of the houses and the battery storage units? | They will remain as open fields. There is no development planned for this area. |
| 16 | What is the expected decibel level of the “buzz” or other noises emanating from the battery storage units? | Not answered directly but we received 5 answers about noise.
As part of the technical design, a noise consultant would be appointed to assess the noise level of the proposed development.
A full noise assessment will be provided as part of any future planning application. This will consider the effects on all noise sensitive receptors. The noise associated with BESS is generally considered to be of a low level.
The main source of noise from battery storage developments is from the cooling system, which may not need to run at 100% capacity in British weather conditions or may only need to run at this capacity on the hottest days of the year, or at peak operation.
A noise assessment 3will provide a detailed analysis of the expected noise impacts in the local area.
A range of noise mitigation methods such as acoustic barriers can be used to lessen the noise impact of the facility. |
| 17 | What measures will be in place to deaden the noise? | Not answered directly but see above & below replies to other questions about noise. |
| 18 | How will the noise be monitored over time? | Subject to planning approval, a condition would normally be applied by the ECU which will seek to restrict the noise levels from the site. |
| 19 | What emissions will come from the site? | There will be no gas or radiation emissions from the development. |
| 20 | What evidence can the company provide that the battery storage units won’t produce harmful emissions? | Not answered directly but see answer to Q76. |
| 21 | Are there any plans in place for reworking of the site should the private members bill by Dame Maria Miller, MP for Basingstoke become law? | Not at this stage. This will be considered further if it becomes law. |
| 22 | What actions do the company plan to take to liaise with our local Fire Service to produce a credible action plan to deal with any fire-related incidents at the site? | This question wasn’t answered directly, but 3 separate answers were given about safety/fire risks.
Each battery container will have a fire detection and suppression system and would be continually monitored by a battery management system, which would report any faults. Each battery is housed in a separate container t reduce the risk of fire spreading.
If there is a fault detected in the batteries, there will be a series of measures used such as automatic power disconnection, sprinklers and inert gases which reduce the level of oxygen available.
In the event that a fire did break out, the fire suppression systems would use a non-toxic gas which is not damaging to the environment and a venting system would prevent flammable gases building up in the battery unit. A fire management plan will be submitted as part of any future planning application.
A further 3 answers were given relating to heat/fire safety at Qs 71, 72 & 73; and 1 answer about consulting the fire service at Q80. |
| 23 | What support will be given to the local Fire Service in regard to this facility? | Not answered but see comments at Q22. |
| 24
25 |
What type of fencing will be in place to deter people, particularly youngsters, from gaining admission to the site once it’s up and running?
How high will the fences be? |
Not answered, but security fencing is referred to in the answer to Q63 & 70.
Generally, this is 2.4 metres high. |
| 26 | Will there be CCTV coverage of the site? | See answers to Q63 & 70. |
| 27 | Will it be patrolled by security staff, both during the construction phase and once it’s up and running? | It will be monitored externally and visited once a month to carry out routine maintenance. |
| 28 | Can the company confirm the main and perhaps only access point to the site for vehicles is the Westfield Road side of the site? | Access is likely to be taken from the B9097 [Westfield Road]. Although this may change as the project progresses. |
| 29 | Can the company confirm that there won’t be lorries and/or construction vehicles travelling through the villages of Benarty? | We got 5 responses on traffic, the type of traffic & its movement.
The scale of vehicle movements will be confirmed with an in-depth transport assessment.
A range of vehicles will likely be required in the construction phase of the development. This includes tipper lorries, articulated goods vehicles, 10m rigid goods vehicles and crawler cranes. This information will be confirmed with a transport assessment.
The exact nature of traffic associated with the development will be confirmed in a transport assessment.
Once constructed the site will be managed remotely with visits envisaged once a month to ensure adequate maintenance of the site and the equipment.
The route the traffic will take has yet to be established. This will be considered by an appointed highways consultant and the subsequent Transport Assessment will be submitted in support of the application. |
| 30 | Will any local jobs be created either during the construction phase or once the facility is up and running? | It is preferred that local business are employed. However, due to the nature of the work this is not always possible. Jobs will be advertised and local people will have the opportunity to apply through normal processes.
This development will provide direct employment in the construction and operational phases, as well as in the decommissioning phase. Jobs will also be created in the supply chain and related services. |
| 31
|
Can any local jobs after construction of the facility be defined and named, eg general labour, security and technical/specialist? | As above. |
| 32 | Will the company consider giving discounts on, or financial contributions to, the cost of the electricity bills for every house in Benarty if the proposal goes ahead? | This will be considered further to see if it is achievable.
However, the company also said, in their reply to another question:
Battery storage sites will lead to lower energy prices generally. However, there will be no location specific reduction in energy prices. |
| 33 | Will the company encourage their on-site workers to purchase locally so that the community sees at least some wider financial benefit for tolerating the upheaval of the construction? | We expect that workers will purchase locally during construction. |
| 34
35
36
37
38 |
Will there be an official community benefit fund?
How will the community be defined?
How much will be made available each year?
How will it be administered?
Will local representatives have a seat on any decision-making committee? |
A community benefit fund is being considered for this project.
This is unknown at this stage.
This is unknown at this stage.
This will be delivered by a third-party company.
Yes, this will be the case. |
| 39 | When will we be informed if the company plans to proceed with the development? | The intention is at this stage to take the site forward into planning. However, this depends on the feedback we received from various organisations, including the Community Council. |
| 40 | When does the company think that it will be in a position to submit a formal planning application? | The application for Westfield will likely be submitted to the energy consents unit in early 2024.
We also received another 2 answers on planning permission.
As the capacity of the project is over 50MW, the decision will be made by the energy consents unit (Scottish Govt). The Local Council will be consulted on the proposal and asked to provide its views. An appropriate level of consultation will also be agreed with the energy consents unit on submission of the application.
Determination of the project is expected to be early-2025. |
| 41 | Can you provide a list of how many, and what kind, of surveys will need to be undertaken? | The following surveys will accompany any future application:
· Ecological Appraisal · Landscape & Visual Appraisal · Flood Risk Assessment · Noise Impact Assessment · Transport Statements; and · Heritage & Archaeological Assessment. |
| 42 | What is the projected lifespan of the battery storage units? | Batteries have a lifespan of approximately 15 years. It is difficult to determine how the batteries will be disposed of in the future, as technologies are likely to change significantly. However, the batteries will be disposed in an appropriate manner at that time and parts recycled where possible. |
| 43 | What plans will be in place for their decommissioning and replacement/removal from site? | When the batteries need replacing, a range of options will be explored. Due to the ever-changing nature of the industry, the specific details of this are currently not know. The batteries will be replaced in the position shown on any future planning application. Should this need to be amended this will be done in accordance with the Town and Country Planning Regulations at that point in time. See also answer to Q82. |
| 44 | How often will the batteries need to be replaced during the lifespan of the project? | See answer to Q42. |
Additional Q&As Provided by Apatura
| 45 | What does BESS do? | Battery storage is a technology that enables energy to be stored for later use. The storage system charges (or collects energy) from the grid, conventional power plant or renewable energy development and then discharges that energy at a later time |
| 46 | Why do we need BESS? | Battery storage can enhance power system flexibility and enable high levels of renewable energy integration. |
| 47 | Who is the applicant? | Apatura is a renewable energy consultancy which builds links between landowners and investors and manages their projects through planning and construction. The company have a diverse portfolio of renewable projects in the UK. |
| 48 | What is the applicant’s track record? | Apatura began in the development and implementation of solar and wind energy projects, which paved the way for the transition to the forefront of Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) technology. Apatura now have an ambitious, growing pipeline of over 10GW in renewable energy. |
| 49 | What is the source of the stored energy? | Energy is sourced from the grid. This comes from both conventional power plants and renewables. |
| 50 | Who will operate this facility? | The facility will be operated by Apatura. |
| 51 | Why was this location chosen? | We consider a range of factors when evaluating land available to deliver a utility-scale, clean, energy storage scheme, including planning and environmental factors such as existing use and quality of land, as well as any designations and constraints. However, a key factor ultimately informing site choice when looking at potential locations for new utility-scale battery storage development is available capacity on the local grid.
In the case of this location, the proximity to Westfield Substation allows us to make use of existing electricity infrastructure to connect to the gird. By doing so, this means we can reduce the potential impacts of the proposal. |
| 52 | Why is this not on brownfield land in an urban area? | Battery storage developments have very specific location requirements, which severely limit where they can be located.
Battery storage facilities have to be located within close proximity of a viable grid connection that has sufficient capacity to import and export power that will be stored and released into the grid at times of peak demand. Suitable points of connection include a substation or a 132kv overhead power line. However, the ability to find connections with sufficient capacity is severely limited around the country. |
| 53 | Where is the connection to the grid? | The connection to the grid is Westfield Substation. |
| 54 | What permissions are required [for] agreement to connect here? | We have a cons agreement with the grid on works that need to happen for us to connect. This is provided to us as part of the grid offer, which we have to accept. |
| 55 | Are these agreements already in place? | When we accept the grid offer, these are part of the agreement. |
| 56 | Is this agreement time sensitive? | Yes. We have milestones to hit such as planning submitted and land rights secured. If these are not hit, the offer can be withdrawn. |
| 57 | Does the energy supply degrade as it is transferred via this connection [ie the cable from the storage facility to the Westfield Substation]? | As electricity is transmitted, a small degree of losses are expected. The level of efficiency reduces the further away from the connection the facility is located. |
| 58 | Are the agreements in place with all landowners to secure the required connection infrastructure? | Yes. |
| 59 | How can you justify developing on best and most versatile agricultural land? | Battery storage facilities are temporary in nature, meaning that once they are decommissioned, the land can then be returned to use for agricultural purposes.
Whilst soil would be disturbed in some parts of the site through the construction of the switch station and access tracks and installation of buried cables, this equates to a relatively small area, and much of the soil disturbance is likely to be reversible during decommissioning.
Additionally, as noted above the location of the proposed development is dependant on the capacity in the network. This means that agricultural land has to be built on to provide BESS. They cannot always be accommodated on brownfield sites. |
| 60 | Will there be any groundworks on site? | The site will be levelled to provide a base for the proposal. The exact method to do this will be based on the flood risk assessment provided as part of the scheme. |
| 61 | What will the containers look like? | The containers will be standard ISO shipping containers. |
| 62 | How big are the containers? | The dimensions of a standard shipping container are 8ft (2.43m) wide, 8.5ft (2.59m) high and typically 40ft (12.2m) long. |
| 63 | What other equipment will be on site? | There will be switch/transformer stations, a DNO substation, a client substation and control room, an inverter, office/store container/underground cabling and an access road. For security, a perimeter fence and pole-mounted CCTV cameras will also be installed. |
| 64 | How will this be housed? | Please see above. |
| 65 | What is the specification of the batteries? | The exact specification of the invertors has not yet been confirmed. |
| 66 | What is the specification of the convertors? | The exact specification of the convertors has not yet been confirmed. |
| 67 | What will the equipment be sited on? | Batteries will be sited on concrete pads. |
| 68 | Will any of the containers be double stacked (ie one on top of another)? | The containers for this development will not be double stacked. |
| 69 | Will the operation be 24 hours? | Yes. The site will be in continuous operation. |
| 70 | How will the site be secured? | To ensure the site is secure, a perimeter fence and pole-mounted CCTV cameras will be installed. |
| 71 | Are the mechanisms in place to detect over heating in the units and shut them down if necessary? | The batteries will be constantly monitored for increases in heat. If there is a fault detected, there will be a series of measures used such as automatic power disconnection, sprinklers and inert gases which reduce the level of oxygen available. |
| 72 | What measures are in place to prevent a chain reaction, ie one container fire spreading to the next? | Battery containers will be separated to minimise the likelihood of fire spreading between the units. |
| 73 | Is it necessary to include a blast wall (other sites include this in their design) – if not, why not? | At this stage we are not aware that this will be a requirement of this proposal at this time. |
| 74 | Is it true that battery fires give off toxic flames? If so, are any measures put in place to minimise the amount of smoke given off if there is a fire? | Please see fire risk measure highlighted above. Apatura are not aware that the equipment used as part of the scheme leads to any toxic flames. |
| 75 | How will any toxic runoff from the battery units be prevented when it rains (presumably the containers are sealed which will prevent this)? | The containers will be sealed to prevent the possibility of toxic runoff in the event of rain. |
| 76 | Do battery storage facilities cause electromagnetic radiation? | Lithium-ion batteries do not give off electromagnetic radiation. |
| 77 | How long does the energy stay stored in the batteries? | Until it is utilised by the grid at peak times. The batteries are then recharged until needed again. |
| 78 | How often is the energy saved / discharged? | The rate of energy discharge will be based on the specific demand on the grid. |
| 79 | How many homes can the energy stored supply? | The capacity of the Westfield site is 200MW meaning it has the potential to store energy to supply 60,000 homes. |
| 80 | Has the Fire Service been consulted on this proposal? | There are plans for the fire service to be consulted for this proposal. |
| 81 | What is the level and type of any odour generated? | No odour is created by battery storage facilities. |
| 82 | What will the containers look like and how will appearance be mitigated? | Standard ISO shipping containers will house the batteries. The appearance of the development can be mitigated with the planting of trees and hedgerows. The containers can also be painted to further reduce their visual impact. |
| 83 | What happens after the expiry of the consent in 40 years’ time? | After 40 years, the site will be decommissioned and returned to its original state. This is usually secured by way of a planning condition. |
| 84 | How will the site be lit and any light pollution mitigated? | Motion sensor lights will be used, meaning light pollution will be minimal. |
| 85 | How will people be compensated for impact on house values? | People will not be compensated for loss of house values as this is not a material planning consideration. The energy consents unit are unable to take this into account. |
| 86 | Why was this location chosen for the consultation event? | The location was chosen due to grid capacity and connection availability and compliance with local and national planning policies. |
| 87 | Who did you contact to inform them of the event? | Members of the Scottish Parliament, Members of Parliament, councillors, community councils, local authorities and nearby residents were all informed of the event. |
The Development Director of Apatura (James Doig) attended the BCC meeting on 2nd November to discuss the company’s proposals.
In addition to the questions already asked of the company, both in their letter and at the November meeting, the BCC has been taking note of comments of residents on facebook and the results of an online poll about the proposal that was run on Benarty Matters. The results of the poll and the comments were clearly opposed to the development.
Following the answers they received from Apatura and taking into account the views expressed by Benarty residents, the BCC agreed unanimously to oppose the BESS proposal.
The reasons for doing so are mainly around safety concerns:
- If a fire breaks out, they are almost impossible to extinguish (examples in the USA have shown this).
- Fire Services across the UK have expressed concern on the fire safety issue.
- Dangers of pollution to the river and land around the facility, due to water being poured onto flames (and its run-off) if the facility goes on fire.
- Concerns that the noise level (buzz) will affect those with hearing problems.
- Concerns that the facility will attract unwanted attention from vandals.
- There is no clear plan for disposing of used batteries (needed approximately every 15 years); and
- There is no clear plan for decommissioning the site (in approximately 40 years’ time).
- There is a chronic shortage of housing in the area and we would rather see the land developed for housing than this facility.
To add further weight to the BCC’s stance, it was agreed that a petition should be submitted to the Energy Consents Unit of the Scottish Government, containing the signatures of those residents opposed to the development.
BCC members and volunteers will be knocking on doors throughout Benarty during December to ask for signatures. There will also be tables at key places in Benarty (eg the Benarty Centre) on certain dates to enable people to sign the petition. All dates and places will be advertised on local social media sites.
If you agree that Benarty is not the right place to site such a development, then please, please sign the petition.
Let’s see people power at work – and Benarty is good at that – and stop this in its tracks!
