Cockenzie: BESS site meeting leads to 'heated' discussion

Representatives from Gresham House, the organisation behind proposals for the agricultural land next to a brownfield site south of Inglis Farm, organised a presentation at Port Seton Community Centre earlier this month.

About 70 people attended and were given the opportunity to ask questions.

During the meeting, representatives of Gresham House proposed a £250,000 community fund.

READ MORE: Residents head to Holyrood to protest against battery energy storage system plan

The Courier asked if the company appreciated that people were concerned about a BESS being placed near their homes, parks and schools?

Glyn Jones, independent technical advisor for Gresham House, replied: "I can fully appreciate that people will be concerned of a battery storage system, a large battery system, being close to them, but we are trying to demonstrate that we have addressed all the potential risks to reduce any risks.

"I also want to potentially suggest some perspective that the same sort of technology is in EVs (electric vehicles) and you park your EV right next to your house or in it. 

"We totally understand the concern but we are taking in the relevant risks. We have extensive measures in place that have been assessed by independent bodies and they comply with all the guidance by the NFCC (National Fire Chiefs Council)."

The battery energy storage system is proposed for land south of Inglis Farm (Image: Gordon Bell)The Courier also asked if the company appreciated that people might find that hard to believe and understand because of multiple cases of fire at similar facilities elsewhere. 

Mr Jones replied: "In the UK, there have been three contributable battery fires: one in Liverpool, there was another one during construction which was in the south of London, and the third one Rothienorman. 

"The Rothienorman one, from pictures taken of the fire on site, that does not look like a battery container.

"We need to look at cases in the UK and there is not a track record of fires in E-battery visits. 

"Gresham House has been running them since 2017, there are 29 currently, and there has never been a problem." 

An example of how the battery energy storage facility could look Following the meeting, Ben Morse, chair of Cockenzie and Port Seton Community Council, said: "People behaved themselves, no one took it too far and that was very good.

"There were definitely heated moments, the community council and Gresham House understands that people have concerns about the site. 

"We were generally able to have a good conversation and I am very grateful for Gresham House coming to Port Seton and travelling here." 

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After the presentation and Q&A, Ben Guest, managing director of Gresham House, said: "I hope the extra information we offered at the community council meeting provided reassurance to local people. 

"We take safety extremely seriously and we are a responsible developer and neighbour.

"We own and operate 29 BESS developments across Britain, some very close to housing, and we have never had a fire safety incident or noise complaint. 

"The Cockenzie BESS will have multiple overlapping layers of safety mechanisms to ensure the community is protected.

"The Cockenzie BESS will create economic benefits for the area through the construction phase and beyond.

"We also propose a community benefit fund of £250,000. It will be up the community how that will be spent. 

"We plan to update our website, cockenziebatterystorage.co.uk, in coming weeks to make sure the technical information from our planning application is more accessible to local people."

READ MORE: Concerns over Cockenzie battery energy storage system

The final decision on the future of the site will be made by the Scottish Government's Energy Consents Unit. 

Following the meeting, Brian Hall, member of campaign group Communities Against Cockenzie Bess (CACB), said: "The main thrust of the presentation was to convince our communities of the safety of the proposed BESS in the current location.

"The risks associated with the safety procedures, which are known not to be fail-proof, were played down, despite their attention being drawn to previous documented failings with catastrophic results at, for example, Moss Landing in January of this year; the representatives appeared not fully conversant with details of the incident.

"Gresham House should be compelled to issue an emergency and evacuation plan and to undertake a plume assessment as parts of their application and for consideration by local communities. 

"It is requested that Gresham House should present a more detailed and understandable argument in support of their 'low noise disturbance' argument, ideally in person for community consideration."