Opposition to plans for Cullingworth battery storage site

Amberside Energy Ltd is behind the scheme, proposed for green belt land to the south-east of Cullingworth.

The 200-megawatts system would be connected to the electricity grid via an underground cable, linking up to Bradford West substation.

According to the company, the project – known as Dobby Rocks – would "enhance grid resilience against outages and disruptions", with the capacity to store enough energy to power around 650,000 homes for two hours.

But opponents have voiced their concerns, and fear the development could pose safety risks.

Amongst the campaigners is Jayne Coates, who says: "Bradford Council is looking for potential sites to house lithium batteries to provide back-up energy in order to avoid power cuts, and whilst we fully appreciate the need for renewable energy and storage, this should be tempered with greater emphasis on the protection of residents and local communities.

"Amberside Energy is proposing to install 160, 40ft containers with lithium batteries at Dobby Rocks, an area of green belt land on the outskirts of the village between two residential developments.

"The site is directly opposite a disused landfill with a methane capture system that is still currently burning off methane gas. We feel this poses a very serious and potentially dangerous risk to our community should the site either suffer an explosion or set on fire. The toxic fumes that would be emitted whilst on fire and the resultant thermal runaway poses a real danger to residents and the village water course.

"The area for this proposed project is called Manywells, and the clue is in the name! Many wells still provide water to older properties and farms.

"We attended a drop-in session hosted by Amberside Energy, when representatives stated they had not even started testing the methane levels in the landfill site. They were not able to answer many of the concerned residents’ questions and quite often contradicted the information on their presentation boards, thus not filling people with any confidence.

"A similar battery energy storage system (BESS) site in Liverpool set on fire four years ago, and took 5.5 million gallons of water and 59 hours to extinguish. The site at Liverpool had only four containers, which is a fraction of the size of the proposed installation at Dobby Rocks, and was not situated between two residential developments within a few metres of a landfill site discharging methane gas."

Campaigners are backed by Bingley Rural district councillor Paul Sullivan, who says it would be "sheer folly" to locate the installation near homes.

He adds: "These batteries have a proven track record of flammability.

"Therefore it is sheer folly to have them anywhere near families – in this case hundreds of them – especially with the added hazard of being within spitting distance of methane pipes emitting from a disused tip!

"The proposed site is about two-and-a-half miles from Bradford West substation, which it is alleged to be 'near', and there's virtually nothing but fields there. If necessary, the council should compulsorily purchase a field or two at the furthest point from any housing. We are not Luddites or NIMBYs, so if our 'green and pleasant ward' must have these batteries for the supposed greater good, we absolutely insist on them being nowhere near people."

And fellow ward councillor, Geoff Winnard, says: "Many residents are very worried about the health and safety risks of a fire hazard so close to residential housing. The proposed site, immediately next to an old landfill area which still emits gases, is clearly an unsuitable location for large battery units and electromagnetic machinery which have been associated elsewhere with fire risks.

"Residents living near the site have also raised with me their concerns about potential noise pollution.

"In view of the growing community opposition, I would urge the developer to reconsider this misguided proposal and seek another more realistic location elsewhere."

Amberside Energy says safety is of paramount importance with any of its schemes.

A spokesperson told the Keighley News: "Safety is at the forefront of our plans across all BESS projects, including at Dobby Rocks.

"We recently hosted a well-attended consultation event with residents, where feedback on a range of areas relating to the project was shared by the local community.

"The site is located in the green belt because the BESS needs to be situated close to the Bradford West substation. As part of the planning application, ‘very special circumstances’ for development in the green belt will be demonstrated.

"We recognise the concern of residents regarding construction of a facility close to the restored landfill site at Manywells. This was restored by Bradford Council with significant infrastructure installed, and a regular monitoring regime is ongoing.

"Nationally, there has been one instance of a BESS project catching fire, which occurred in 2020 in Liverpool. This incident has informed and enhanced fire safety policies and standards for current and future BESS projects, such as at Dobby Rocks. Lessons learned have led to the implementation of more rigorous safety protocols, improved fire detection and suppression systems, and enhanced thermal management.

"Consultation on Dobby Rocks is ongoing, at amberside.virtualconsultation.co.uk/dobbyrocksenergy, and remains open until Friday, August 23. We continue to welcome feedback from local residents, and following the closure of consultation will fully review all comments received, before updating and refining our plans further."