John Milne

John Milne

Liberal Democrat — Horsham

Speaking in the House of Commons on 5 June 2025

Debate

Battery Energy Storage Sites: Safety Regulations

Contribution

The hon. Gentleman is better acquainted than I am with the way that devolution works, but yes, I hope that the Minister will be able to set out whatever course of action is required to get to that point. It is essential that we build battery energy storage sites to proper safety standards so that we do not find ourselves facing the need for a massively more expensive retrofit, with consequences for the entire energy network. What accidents have there been so far? In September 2020, a fire at a BESS site in Liverpool created a significant blast and took 59 hours to extinguish. Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service said that the blaze on Carnegie Road “appears to be the first significant fire of its type to occur within the UK”. However, this was only a small BESS, with just four containers and a modest 20 MWh output in total.

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