Investigation into battery energy storage fire

An investigation is being carried out into a fire at a battery energy storage system recently installed in a residential area of Exeter.

The Battery Box unit stores excess renewable energy, including from wind and solar, and releases it back to the electricity grid during peak demand times.

Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service said it was called to a fire on Pinhoe Road shortly after 17:30 BST on Monday.

Amp Clean Energy, which operates the Battery Box on land leased from Devon County Council, said the batteries were shut down after smoke was seen coming out of the unit and the batteries would remain out of use while the circumstances were investigated.

The fire service said the battery storage unit was isolated from a nearby substation and a cordon was put in place while the unit was cooled using a hose reel.

Mark Tarry, CEO of Amp Clean Energy, said the firm was "conducting a thorough investigation in partnership with National Grid to understand the cause of the smoke".

He said the smoke came from a cabinet which was the point of connection with National Grid's network.

Tarry said the batteries were were safely shut down "in accordance with standard safety operating procedures" and were unaffected.

He said he had no reason to believe the incident had anything to do with current high temperatures.

Planning permission was granted in February and, according to planning documents, AMP Clean Energy said it was developing more than 1,250 Battery Boxes in the UK over the next three years.

The planning application said the project was a partnership with Devon County Council, which benefitted from leasing the land and "adding resilience to the local electricity network".

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