News
23 July, 2024
A new battery deadline
Somerset Council has given energy company Enervest 128 business days to provide Council and SeqWater with further advice on a series of issues regarding their Development Application (DA) for a battery storage facility in Hazeldean.
The decision period has been stopped until January 17, 2025, to allow Enervest sufficient time to respond to the matters raised by Council and SeqWater.
Council’s request for further advice comes after they reviewed nearly 300 submissions opposing the proposed development, citing several of the arguments made by residents in their Further Advice letter.
One of the topics Council is seeking more information on is the fi re hazard posed by lithium ion battery energy storage systems (BESS), a recurring concern raised by residents.
Given the proposed site is within a kilometre of two rural residential estates, as well as a number of individual houses on farming properties, Council has requested Enervest “demonstrate how fire and smoke risk would be mitigated to surrounding properties, noting the nearest houses are within 500m of the BESS”.
Council has also asked Enervest to demonstrate how the proposed facility varies from the systems listed in the BESS Failure Incident Database and what makes it less prone to thermal runaway than those facilities, as well as confirm the type of batteries to be used on site.
Enervest will also have to provide a Hazard Mitigation Analysis that addresses measures that can be implemented to reduce risk of a fi re or explosion. Lastly, Council addressed the issue of specialised equipment needed to fight a BESS fire.
“It is noted that a BESS fire and a substation fire may require different fire management strategies, and questions are raised about the ability of a local fire brigade to fight a fire within facility that includes a high voltage electrical facility.”, Council wrote.
Given the size of the proposed BESS, having a capacity of 1600mWh, which would make it one of the largest in Queensland, Council requested Enervest to provide advice from the Queensland Fire Department (QFD), addressing fire management for both BESS fi res and substation fires.
QFD Manager of Fire Safety Mark Halverson told The Sentinel there are numerous tactical guides in place, one of which addresses hazardous material, such as those of a BESS.
These guides lay out exactly what stations need to do to be prepared for such a fire, including what to do on arrival, what actions to take onsite, and what to do in the recovery phase.
“Auxiliary stations carry the same equipment as permanent stations, so locals are able to respond”, he said.
“These incidents present a unique hazard but we have confident crews who are all well aware of the risk and have the information they need to respond.
“In an incident that requires a multi-brigade response, the first arrivals do the safety checks and a more senior officer will take control afterwards.”
Mr Halverson added that stations are required to have a Local Action Plan, which is a pre-planned document assessing all the specific details of the site, so firefighters can access the info en route to the fire.
“QFD will respond to every request to attend a fi re, under any incident”, he said.
An Enervest spokesperson said they are “working diligently” through the next steps of the Development Application process. Council or the project will make additional information, including relating to fi re safety, publicly available at the appropriate time.
Other concerns raised by Council and SeqWater in the Further Advice letter include water contamination, visual impact, decommissioning and rehabilitation of land afterwards, stormwater run-off , environmental health issues and noise disturbances.
Kilcoy residents will be holding a community forum on Friday, July 26 at 6pm with speakers Senator Malcolm Roberts, One Nation candidate for Nanango, Adam Maslen, and Katie McCallum, who will discuss their views of battery storages and renewable energy.
There will be a Q&A opportunity, with tea, coffee, cake and water being provided.
The event will take place at Kilcoy Memorial Hall on Kennedy Street, Kilcoy.
To view the full Further Advice letter visit Council’s website, use the e services
