Fears about battery energy storage systems (BESS) have only increased as the technology becomes more widely adopted around the globe. Marguerite Fleming is a fierce opponent of the proposed BESS site in Aberdeenshire. In doing so, she’s raised grave warnings on the threats such facilities may harbor. Robert Dryfe, professor of physical chemistry at the University of Manchester, agrees that we need to develop more BESS plants. This is critical if we are to meet the rapidly increasing demand for clean energy.
Battery energy storage system (BESS) technology can provide better large-scale power storage. It’s powered by lithium-ion batteries, the same battery technology that will soon be powering electric vehicles and laptops. These batteries are typically kept in large metal containers, sometimes filled with thousands of battery cells. For one, demand for renewable energy is at an all-time high. That was all before last year, when Europe installed an impressive 1.9 gigawatt-hours of BESS capacity! This quick and excited expansion of the e-scooter upstart comes with major safety threats.
Fires at BESS facilities have the potential to be catastrophic. If these facilities aren’t well protected or far enough away from other buildings, the fires can spread quickly. One especially extreme incident at a BESS facility in Essex recently took firefighters almost 24 hours to put the fire out. One fire at a facility in Liverpool back in 2020 burned for a shocking 59 hours. Earlier this month, a fire erupted from one of the largest BESS facilities in the world located in northern California. This very scary event required the evacuation of about 1,500 residents.
Fleming is most worried about where these facilities are placed.
“They don’t have any consideration for the residents that live outside their red line around their property, they don’t take the residents into consideration for flood risk or fire,” – Marguerite Fleming
Robert Dryfe argues that to keep pace with growing renewable energy usage, the expansion of BESS facilities is essential. He also delves into other storage technologies, including cryogenic and hydro storage systems. He believes that in the light of electrochemical storage mechanisms already having a very wide uptake, they are “fairly niche devices”.
“We are using more renewable energy, and that means more grid scale storage – and so basically I don’t think we’ve got any choice,” – Prof Robert Dryfe
With the quick expansion of BESS facilities, increased oversight and standardized procedures are being advocated for. Experts emphasize that without harmonized policies, the deployment of energy storage systems may slow significantly. As Driese Acke, an expert in energy policy, explains, here’s the big problem. At the same time, there are no EU-wide standards for the quality and maintenance of battery assets.
“From our point of view, it’s important to have it harmonised as far as possible, because certainly in the European Union there is no such thing as an EU-wide standard for the quality and maintenance of battery assets,” – Driese Acke
Furthermore, Acke notes that the current organization of regulations on a national level undermines the EU’s goal of functioning as a single market for battery energy storage systems. This fragmentation results in added time to deploy any new technology.
“It is all organised on a national level, which means that the EU is not actually a single market as it’s meant to be for battery energy storage systems. And that’s one of the reasons that big deployments are going a bit slower than they should be,” – Driese Acke
As worries about BESS continue to spread, representatives from the BESS industry are quick to highlight their safety-first priorities. A spokesperson for Blackford Renewables stated:
“We take local concerns about fire safety very seriously, and we are committed to maintaining the highest safety standards through the use of advanced technology, fire safety systems and close coordination with emergency services.”
Despite these reassurances, local residents are wary, and skepticism runs high with safety advocates such as Fleming. The threat of catastrophic fires is a very real concern, especially considering we’ve seen catastrophic fires like those in Maui and Lahaina. Recognising the risks, Prof Dryfe also recognises that there are complexities in battery recycling processes and their associated dangers.
“Recycling’s obviously a good thing, but taking batteries apart isn’t a risk-free process, and fires can start there,” – Prof Robert Dryfe
BESS technology is a rapidly changing and expanding state of play worldwide. Too many lives are at stake for stakeholders to ignore pressing safety issues and at the same time avoid efficient energy storage solutions. The debate over the placement of BESS will only grow in volume as communities contend with the impacts of having these large facilities in their midst.