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Batteries: Storage

Asked by Sir Alec ShelbrookeConservativeDepartment for Energy Security and Net ZeroTabled Answered 26 November 2024UIN 15436

The question

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps his Department is taking to help mitigate the risk of thermal runaways in battery energy storage facilities.

Answered by Michael Shanks

Grid-scale batteries are regulated by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) within a framework which requires battery designers, installers and operators to take the necessary measures to ensure health and safety throughout all stages of the system’s construction, operation and decommissioning.

The Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra) is considering options, including environmental permitting, to further mitigate thermal runaway risk in battery storage facilities. The Department’s officials are supporting this work.

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