development application MCU24 0005 Battery Storage Facility

Page | 006

BESS site by the Michael Creek Vally enabling a plausible
smoke travel route.
• Of the total 25 BESS facilities in Australia, 3 have had BESS
fires. This highlights the “likelihood” of a BESS fire is not
improbable. It is noted, cause of these fires and the battery
types were variable.
Table listing Australian BESS related fires [2b]
Date Event Facility Size Location Comments
April 2021
Battery Fire
4MW/8MWh
Yurika Bohle Plains, Townsville, QLD BESS Facility
Fire occurred during commissioning
July 2021
Battery Fire
300W/450MWh
Moorabool, Victoria Big Battery BESS Facility, VIC
Probable cause of thermal escalation was a leak in internal coolant system of Tesla Megapack 1.0
Sep 2023
Battery Fire
50MW/100MWh
Bouldercombe BESS Facility, QLD
Grid-side fault failure to megapack electronicsc
• Water is a limited resource at Mt Fox and all existing residents and rural businesses depend on the existing accessibility and quantity available. Currently our personal rural business holds a water licence to extract 240Mlt, providing stability during the dry portions of the year. The impact of significant increased volumes extracted from underground sources, regarding surrounding water levels is unknown and may result in deficiencies or competition for the water resource.
• It is noted none of the above risks or impacts were mentioned in the development application. It is assumed either the risks/impacts have been assessed and deemed insignificant, OR they were unidentified. An overarching Risk Assessment would determine the potential risk and standard of controls.
• The Australian Energy Council Limited: Battery Energy Storage Systems Guidance Report also recognises there are “unknown unknowns associated with large-scale electrochemical storage” systems [2c] which will only be defined with time.
Element: Location & Constraints
4) Development is located to ensure protection of the Shire’s potable water supply and aquifers
The Community is not connected to reticulated water supply and sources water primarily from underground aquifers (bores & springs) and/or watershed (rainwater tanks, dams & creeks).
• Bores and Springs are common features of Mt Fox properties; however the connectivity of the underground aquifers is unknown. MFEP Reports have advised water will be sourced from multiple bores on the property. The extent of water required for construction and ongoing operation is unknown. The associated increase in water requirements for the BESS project, could impact surrounding land users water availability if aquifers are
Document Set ID: 2630476
Version: 1, Version Date: 16/02/2024
4