Safety concerns fail to prevent plan for battery energy storage system on farm land near Chesterfeld from winning conditional permission

The site for the proposed system covers one field and the corner of another at Calow Green Farm and Nether House Farm, Calow, and is adjacent to a previously approved and established facility.

Operation of such facilities involves the storage of energy from renewables, like solar and wind, which is then released when the power is needed most. North East Derbyshire District Council planners were informed that demand for electricity is increasing through the ongoing electrification of transport and heat sectors and an increasing uptake of plug-in and hybrid vehicles.

Safety fears have been lodged with the council. Jonathan Fullwood of Hall Flash Farm, Hallflash Lane, Calow wrote that the proposed battery containers carried highly volatile chemicals. He commented: “It doesn't take a genius to work out that putting these on top of a well-documented potentially explosive gas field lacks any type of common sense.”

Calow Parish Council voiced concern about the impact on the local community, with significant risk of a major accident in the event of an explosion or fire, along with the risk of pollution with the release of chemicals.

The proposed site is only 100m to 200m from Calow Green where resident Nigel Pemberton said that the access to the site during construction would be along a narrow and often single track lane with 90 degree bends.

Fears of unacceptable noise levels and possible light pollution were among the issues highlighted in 18 submissions opposing the scheme.

The planning authority granted permission with a number of strings attached. These included that a contaminated land assessment be carried out prior to the start of any development to check for the likely presence of potentially hazardous gas and the assessment of potential risks to human health and property including buildings. Should a site investigation reveal unacceptable risks from ground gases then a detailed remediation scheme to bring the site to a condition suitable for intended use would have to be submitted and approved by the planning authority.