Fire chiefs are to be quizzed over the resources available in the event of a major blaze at a battery energy storage facility being built at Hunterston.

North Coast councillor Todd Ferguson says he also hopes to have an on-site meeting with the company behind the project to discuss its planned fire safety precautions.

Renewable energy developers Amp Energy announced plans in 2022 for a 'Scottish Green Battery Complex' at Hunterston.

It's one of two Amp Energy sites which are each set to provide 400 megawatt hours (MWh) of battery storage capacity, the other being at Kincardine in Fife.

The News recently reported on Fairlie community councillor David Telford’s concerns at planned fire safety measures at the site.

Councillor Ferguson says he is also monitoring the situation closely, having first raised his concern over the issue in the News two years ago.

Concerns have been heightened by a fire at a lithium battery storage unit in South Korea last month which killed at least 22 people.

Closer to home, a major blaze broke out at a battery recycling facility in Linwood, Renfrewshire, in June, while three months ago, fire destroyed a similar battery recycling plant in Kilwinning.

Cllr Ferguson said: "I have been keeping a close eye on the situation and I have asked a number of questions at North Ayrshire Council meetings regarding the matter.

"The documentation that we currently have from Amp Energy is two years old and, as Mr Telford says, is not site specific.

"At the next police, fire and rescue committee meeting of North Ayrshire Council, I am going to be asking some more questions about the matter.

“Given the fire service is coming under immense pressure in terms of resources and recruitment, and the higher propensity for battery facilities to go on fire, we need to have appropriate resources available to tackle such an event if it was to occur.

“I want to ask the fire chiefs about the situation and how it would affect a situation at Hunterston.

“We have seen what has happened at Linwood and Kilwinning, and they are just normal lithium batteries, not battery storage sites.

"While AMP Energy have said that fire protection measures will be in place, we need more assurances.

"In recent summers we have had a lot of wildfires, and I want to ask the council about civil contingencies in place in relation to a possible fire at the site during good summer weather.

“The council has set up a West of Scotland resilience partnership group in response to requests from local resilience partnerships on developing plans to deal with fires at battery energy storage systems.

“I want to get feedback about where we are at with the Hunterston site."

Cllr Ferguson also says that if he’s successful in securing an on-site meeting with AMP Energy, he plans to invite community council representatives to attend to ask questions about site-specific measures at the Hunterston plant.

“The council has a role to play in terms of civil contingencies, and though they may feel it is at arm’s length I want to make sure our council and chief executive are asking the right types of question.”

Group Commander Gavin Hammond is the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service's Head of Fire Safety Enforcement and Fire Engineering.

He previously said: "We have a bespoke working group in place which covers electrical and battery safety. This include various stakeholders and assists in a number of workstreams, including the planning and consultation process for Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS).

"When we receive information about proposed BESS sites we refer those involved in any application process to the National Fire Chief Council's best practice guidance for such sites.

"These guidelines detail, amongst other things, minimum standards with fire safety systems and design features, water requirements for firefighting and access requirements.

"If the requirements set out in this guidance are not being met, it is for any site developer to provide justification and associated mitigation and thereafter for the local authority  and/or the Scottish Government's Energy Consents Unit to make decisions regards approving the consent."