Battery storage facility plans near Macduff Primary School are slammed
Plans for a battery storage facility just 85 metres from Macduff Primary School have been slammed by worried parents.
ODPEnergy is working on plans to install a 49.9MW facility on land close to Old Gamrie Road.
But worried father Steve Barker has launched an online petition in a bid to ask developers to reconsider the project.
He is scared that the battery containers could go up in flames and potentially harm pupils nearby.
Under the current proposal, 34 battery containers would be placed on ground behind the school.
The site would connect to the nearby substation and it would be in operation for 30 years.
Steve and other concerned parents feel that the proposed facility would be installed “way too close” to the school.
The anxious father said: “I’m rather annoyed about it.
“It seems to be, ‘we’ll just dump it anywhere and not worry about the consequences’.”
Parents mostly fear a fire could break out on the site, and say they don’t want to risk such an incident from occurring.
But Steve is not just worried about his own family, he is concerned for all of the youngsters at the school.
“It’s not just my child, it’s everyone’s children,” he said.
“If one of the units goes up in flames, it would put out a lot of poisonous gases that wouldn’t be nice.
“There is a lot of discussion about thermal runaway, and when the units blow up they can burn for up to four days.”
Steve also has reservations about the response to a blaze on the site.
“I have to question if the local fire station would actually manage a large installation like that if something went wrong.”
But, ODPEnergy documents say they carry out about 1500 safety inspections every year, with no serious accidents at all in 2022.
Meanwhile, animal lover Fran Manning moved from England to Aberdeenshire to run her own animal rescue sanctuary.
However her land, which is currently home to cats, dogs, hens, lambs and pigs, sits right next to the proposed site.
A fence is all that separates her field from the proposed BESS site.
“They say there is no flood risk but this year alone, all the surrounding fields flooded.”
Fran admitted she wants to move from Macduff but now feels stuck and added: “We’ve got a long battle ahead”.
But despite their protest, the parents aren’t actually against the development.
They simply want developers to consider placing it in another location.
Steve explained: “They want to put these battery energy systems in no matter what because they want to go for net zero, which is fine.
“We have no problem with renewable energies, I’ve got solar panels on my roof – we aren’t against that.
“What we are against is such a big installation going less than 100 metres from the school.”
Energy generated from renewable sources including solar and wind farms are stored at battery storage sites.
They release the energy to the grid in times of high demand.
While the plans are still in the early stages, developers are hoping to start work on the site by June 2026.
It is anticipated that works would be completed and the units hooked up to the grid by June 2027.
Following the 30-year operating period, the facilities would be decommissioned and the ground returned back to agricultural use.
Developers are planning to submit detailed plans for the site to Aberdeenshire Council by the end of the year.
ODPEnergy has completed a number of battery and solar projects across the UK, Europe and further afield.
It is also working on two similar sites in Aberdeenshire.
The firm is behind plans for 49.9MW facilities along Boothby Road in Fraserburgh and Bridgend Farm near Laurencekirk.
Both sites would link up to their nearest substations and would be in use for 30 years.
A spokesman for ODPEnergy said the firm was aware of the concerns raised by the community.
He added: “OPDEnergy UK is preparing all technical studies to demonstrate that the project complies with safety standards and that no harm would be caused in the remote case of the facility catching fire.”
