Fire services should conduct checks on proposed locations for battery energy storage systems (BESS).
Maria Miller, the Conservative MP for Basingstoke, emphasised in the House of Commons that the widely acknowledged “potential fire risks” associated with lithium BESS necessitate thorough scrutiny.
Miller said: “We need to increase power storage, but the potential fire risks associated with lithium-ion battery storage facilities are now becoming widely acknowledged.
“What is my honourable Friend doing to ensure these facilities are not built in inappropriate locations like Basing Fen in my constituency, which is a site that’s potentially sandwiched between a rare north-flowing salmonid chalk stream and a hospital?”
In response, Andrew Bowie, the parliamentary under-secretary of state for energy security and net zero, stated: “I have been collaborating with government colleagues to establish the appropriate regulations governing the planning and environmental aspects of these facilities.”
Bowie further emphasised that each site should be evaluated on its own merits, with the ultimate decision resting with local authorities.
