The push toward renewable energy is reshaping infrastructure across the globe, but it is also raising urgent new questions about safety. A recent BBC News investigation (“‘We are playing with fire’: Fears persist over battery storage”, Emma Woollacott, 11 September 2025) highlights growing concerns over the risks posed by battery energy storage systems (BESS).
As communities, regulators, and industry experts weigh the benefits of clean energy against the hazards of storing it, the debate over how to keep people and the environment safe is intensifying.
Fires That Shocked Communities
Lithium-ion batteries, the same technology found in laptops and electric cars, are now being deployed at an unprecedented scale to store energy from solar and wind. These systems allow power to be held and released when demand peaks, making them a cornerstone of the net-zero energy transition.
But recent incidents underline the potential dangers.
- California, January 2025: A fire at the Moss Landing facility, one of the world’s largest BESS plants, raged for hours. Authorities evacuated around 1,500 residents and closed a major highway as emergency crews worked to bring the blaze under control.
- Essex, February 2024: A fire at a BESS site took almost 24 hours to extinguish, raising alarms about response capabilities in the UK.
- Liverpool, 2020: Another fire at a storage facility burned for 59 hours before being fully extinguished.
Each case involved thermal runaway, a process in which heat inside a battery cell triggers chemical reactions that release more heat, sometimes explosively. With millions of cells stored side by side, such events can spread quickly and prove extremely difficult to contain.
Importantly, none of these high-profile incidents referenced the issue of contaminated runoff. Whether from firefighting water or rainfall on fire-damaged sites, the risk of pollutants entering drainage systems and natural waterways is significant, yet it often goes unacknowledged.
A Technology Expanding at Speed
The BBC report notes that 21.9 gigawatt-hours of battery capacity were installed in Europe in 2024 alone. Enough to power 16 million homes. This momentum is only increasing.
According to Driese Acke, deputy CEO of SolarPower Europe, “what we are looking at is that we should increase battery deployments by a factor of 10” in the coming years. From today’s 75 gigawatt-hours, Europe must reach around 750 by 2030 to meet climate goals.
This rapid expansion is essential to avoid wasting renewable energy. Without storage, surplus power generated by wind and solar cannot be used when it is most needed – such as evenings when demand spikes. Storage is therefore central to achieving net zero by 2050.
Yet as New York City councillor Robert Holden bluntly told the BBC, “the city is literally playing with fire by allowing [BESS] to be sited practically in people’s backyards.”
Public Concern and Local Resistance
As more sites are proposed, local opposition is growing. In Staten Island, New York, councillors are pushing back on facilities near homes and petrol stations. In Aberdeenshire, UK, residents are challenging a proposed development by Blackford Renewables in Rothienorman.
Community campaigner Marguerite Fleming told the BBC: “They don’t have any consideration for the residents that live outside their red line around their property, they don’t take the residents into consideration for flood risk or fire.”
In response, Blackford Renewables stressed that safety is a priority: “We take local concerns about fire safety very seriously, and we are committed to maintaining the highest safety standards through the use of advanced technology, fire safety systems and close coordination with emergency services.”
While reassurances are welcome, scepticism remains. Residents worry that once sites are built, their communities will be left to live with the risks.
Alternatives Exist But Are Limited
While lithium-ion dominates, alternatives are being explored.
- Cryogenic storage: Power is stored by chilling air into liquid form. As it warms, it expands and drives a turbine.
- Hydropower reservoirs: Long-established systems that release water from high to low reservoirs, generating electricity.
Yet Professor Robert Dryfe, physical chemistry expert at the University of Manchester, describes both as “fairly niche devices.” With the scale of renewable deployment rising rapidly, electrochemical (battery) storage remains the most practical solution for now.
That reality makes fire risk management, not avoidance of BESS, the central challenge.
Beyond the Fire: Other Risks
The BBC article also highlights less visible issues:
- End-of-life recycling: Taking apart batteries is itself risky, and recycling facilities have also seen fires.
- Environmental damage: Fires may release toxic gases or contaminants, potentially affecting soil and water.
- Resource pressures: Mining materials such as cobalt raises ethical and environmental challenges, particularly in developing regions.
- Grid readiness: In Germany, concerns are growing that the national infrastructure may not cope with the number of facilities planned.
Each of these adds complexity to an already urgent conversation: how to ensure battery storage supports, rather than undermines, the sustainability agenda.
The Regulatory Gap
Perhaps the most pressing issue is the lack of harmonised standards.
“There is no such thing as an EU-wide standard for the quality and maintenance of battery assets,” notes Acke. Instead, each country sets its own rules, creating a patchwork of regulations that slows deployment and leaves safety gaps.
Some policymakers are already asking why BESS is not regulated in the same way as other major energy sites. This regulatory inconsistency leaves both communities and operators exposed to unnecessary risk.
Internationally, progress is underway. China, the US, the UK and Australia are developing guidelines, while newer BESS technologies now feature improved fire suppression and more resilient battery chemistries. But experts agree that far more work is needed to match regulation to the pace of deployment.
Sandfield Penstock Solutions’ Perspective
At Sandfield Penstock Solutions, we see clear parallels between BESS safety and the challenges we address in water pollution control. Both involve low-probability but high-impact events that can have devastating consequences for communities and the environment if not properly managed.
When battery fires occur, the immediate threat of flames often takes centre stage. But the hidden danger is what happens afterwards. Fires at BESS facilities can release toxic gases and chemical contaminants that find their way into air, soil and water systems.
Crucially, it is not only firefighting water that poses a risk. Rainfall on a fire-damaged or contaminated site can also wash pollutants into surrounding drainage systems and natural waterways, spreading contamination long after the flames are extinguished.
Once these pollutants escape, they are difficult, and in most cases impossible, to fully remediate. The long-term impact on ecosystems, drinking water and public health can be catastrophic.
In fact, BAT guidance already exists for addressing water pollution risks at industrial and energy sites. These standards are designed to ensure that drainage, containment and pollution control measures are not optional extras but embedded from the start. Applying BAT principles to BESS sites would go a long way toward reducing environmental risks.
This is why pollution containment cannot be treated as an afterthought. Just as fire suppression is now standard in BESS planning, so too should robust drainage and containment systems be built into the design of every site from day one. Waiting until after construction to retrofit these safeguards risks both compliance issues and catastrophic failures in the event of an incident.
Our solutions are designed specifically to prevent contaminants from spreading beyond site boundaries:
- Emergency shut-off valves that automatically isolate drainage systems when a fire or spill is detected.
- Monitoring stations that provide real-time data on water quality, enabling rapid response if contaminants are detected.
- Stand-alone, power-independent systems that continue to operate even during electrical failures or emergency shutdowns.
Integrating this kind of infrastructure early doesn’t just protect the environment, it also protects operators, regulators and communities. In many cases, effective containment can mean the difference between a manageable incident and a headline-making disaster.
For an industry under increasing scrutiny, forward planning and investment in pollution control measures are essential to maintaining both public trust and operational resilience. BESS facilities are central to the renewable energy future, but without containment strategies built in from the ground up, they risk undermining the very sustainability goals they are meant to serve.
Looking Ahead: Balancing Progress and Protection
Battery storage is not optional, it is essential to a renewable future. But the lessons from California, Essex and Liverpool show that without robust safeguards, the costs can be severe.
The BBC report highlights the urgent need for:
- Unified regulation: International standards for design, maintenance, and emergency response.
- Advanced safety systems: Better separation of cells, improved suppression technologies, and stronger fire-resistant designs.
- Community engagement: Transparent consultation with residents, addressing flood and fire risks openly.
- End-of-life planning: Safer recycling processes and clearer strategies for handling battery waste.
- Pollution containment from the outset: Integrated drainage and emergency shut-off systems to prevent environmental contamination.
The energy transition must not come at the expense of safety or the environment.
As Professor Dryfe concluded in the BBC feature: “We are using more renewable energy, and that means more grid-scale storage – and so basically I don’t think we’ve got any choice.”
That inevitability makes it even more important to get safety right. From better regulation to proven containment technologies, industries must take a proactive approach.
At Sandfield Penstock Solutions, our commitment is to provide the systems and expertise that help industries and communities manage risk effectively. The future of energy must be renewable, but it must also be safe.
Reference: BBC News – “‘We are playing with fire’: Fears persist over battery storage”,
