Concerns over location of battery storage units sparks call for guidelines
An 8.5 megawatt hour battery storage facility in Stephenstown, Balbriggan, Co Dublin.
A new policy is to be developed by Cork County Council on where battery storage units can be located in the region, following a major increase in planning applications and concerns raised about their safety.
Council bosses have agreed to help provide a comprehensive ‘planning policy’ on such developments, as they are not as clear-cut as those dealing with wind and solar farms.
Councillors strongly supported developing a definitive policy following a joint motion from Fine Gael councillors John Paul O’Shea and Trish Murphy.
Mr O’Shea described them as “a new phenomenon” worrying communities because of their proximity to houses, allied to potential fire and pollution risks.
The batteries are used to store electricity from wind and solar farms, which is then transferred to the national grid when needed.
“It’s my understanding a lot more applications are coming for these storage areas, and we will have to deal with them properly,” Mr O’Shea added.
Ms Murphy said: “There’s a lot of concern in smaller towns and villages about them, and having a proper policy might reassure people.”
Fianna Fáil councillor Sheila O’Callaghan said that a very large battery storage area is being proposed in the village of Knockraha, near Glanmire.
She said some of the batteries are the size of shipping containers.
“There are huge concerns about fire [risk] and also their proximity to waterways,” Ms O’Callaghan added.
Fianna Fáil councillor Ian Doyle said that while the majority of people accept the need to transition to green energy, there are a lot of concerns about proposed locations for battery storage units.
“We need very stringent plans in place to deal with this,” he said.
Mr O’Shea said the matter should be referred to the council’s planning and environment special purposes committees, where the comprehensive guidelines could be drawn up. He said this would benefit everybody involved, as guidelines would be clear for communities as well as those proposing such developments.
Council chief executive Moira Murrell said Mr O’Shea’s request seemed "a sensible suggestion”, and her officials will work with councillors to create guidelines in the region.
Padraig Barrett, the council’s director of services, planning & development, said battery storage units are needed to meet the country’s energy and climate targets to become a carbon-neutral economy.
He said in March 2023 the European Commission made a list of recommendations for a greater deployment of energy storage and underpinning a decarbonised and secure EU energy system.
Mr Barrett said the Government also supports electricity storage systems as they are vital to enhance security of energy supply.
