LEADING equine veterinary surgeon Hugh Dillon is raising awareness in the bloodstock industry of the serious health and safety issues posed by large battery energy storage systems [BESS].

Dillon, a partner in Troytown Equine Hospital in Kildare, is a member of a campaign group — Two Mile House Says No — which is opposed to the installation of a BESS at Dunnstown, near Carnalway, for which planning permission was refused by Kildare County Council, but which is now the subject of a second appeal at An Bord Pleanála (ABP).

The group claims that the proposed development poses significant risks to the local community and the bloodstock industry through the potential for evacuation orders, exposure of horses to toxins, and disruption to round-the-clock care for foaling mares and young stock.

The Dunnstown project consists of 76 shipping containers of lithium-ion batteries with associated infrastructure and, with a 200MW capacity, it can store 800 megawatts of energy.

Dillon is now concerned about a new 200MW BESS proposal as part of a joint solar and BESS industrial project within 2km of Kilcock in North Kildare, also adjacent to many thoroughbred studs.

He says if these batteries caught fire and went into thermal runaway, a ‘stay-in’ or evacuation order may be required and an enormous amount of water would need to be available to deal with cooling the batteries.

In January, a fire at a 300MW BESS in California prompted a 20-square kilometre evacuation order.

No regulator

Dillon told The Irish Field: “My wife, Eleanor Wauchob, also a veterinary surgeon, and I have spent three years researching this, and we are concerned for the rest of the country.

“There is no appointed safety regulator for lithium-ion batteries. None of the safety bodies that we have cover this area, so therefore it is not obligatory for international safety standards or guidelines to be implemented here.

“Lithium-ion batteries are a novel technology. Under EU legislation they require a notifying authority to oversee their safety and Ireland does not have one.

“In the meantime these planning applications are being submitted and there are two major issues not being dealt with – fire suppression and emergency access to the site.”

Dillon says a battery fire would have catastrophic consequences. “The UK’s National Fire Chiefs Council state that you would need access to 1,900 litres of water every minute for the first two hours to cool the batteries. This is not addressed in the planning application.”

Some BESS fires have required up to nine million gallons of water.

Dillon added: “The batteries would release a huge amount of toxic gas, meaning that an evacuation order would be needed. People could be moved but animals would be exposed for three to five days.”

He cited a recent BESS fire in California which saw toxin levels in the soil reading 1,000 times higher than normal within a two-mile area.

Fire hydrants should be installed around the site and there needs to be two emergency access points, Dillon said, in case smoke blocks one entrance. Again, this is not being taken into account in Irish planning applications, he says.

Residents in the area argue that the application lacks crucial details regarding safety protocols and fails to demonstrate compliance with internationally recognised safety standards.

Safeguards needed

“The global rise in hazardous incidents involving lithium-ion batteries is alarming,” stated Tom Nolan, a spokesperson for the concerned community in Kilcock where the new facility is proposed. “With over 92 reported cases of failures in BESS systems as of February 2025, and thousands of fires linked to electric vehicles, we cannot afford to be complacent. This application lacks the necessary safeguards to protect our community from the inherent risks of this technology.”

Concerns include the lack of specific measures addressing thermal runaway, toxic gas emissions (including hydrogen fluoride, hydrogen cyanide, and phosphoryl fluoride), explosion risks, and comprehensive emergency response protocols. The potential for environmental contamination is also a major worry, say objectors ,with the BESS located near the Ballycanon water course, which feeds into the Rye Valley Special Area of Conservation.

Recent case studies of BESS failures, such as the Claregalway fire in January, where a battery fire forced the evacuation of nearby schools and homes, highlight the potential consequences of inadequate safety measures.

Beyond safety, residents are questioning the suitability of the proposed solar farm’s scale and location. The 235-hectare project is seen as a disproportionate industrialization of a rural landscape traditionally characterized by agriculture and open space.

“This development will lead to the elimination of farming activities, disrupt rural cohesion, and divert income away from the local area,” states Nolan. “The jobs provided during construction are unlikely to be local, and the long-term employment opportunities are minimal. We believe solar panels can be integrated into the landscape in a way that minimises visual impact and preserves agricultural activities, but this application ignores that possibility.”

Decommissioning costs for the BESS are also a concern, with estimates ranging from €20 million to €60 million under normal circumstances, and potentially exceeding €80 million in the event of a thermal runaway or fire. Residents worry that if the developer goes into liquidation after a failure, the responsibility for decommissioning and environmental remediation could fall on landowners or Kildare County Council, leaving a legacy of toxic waste.

“We are not against renewable energy, but we believe that this project, in its current form, poses unacceptable risks to our community and environment,” concludes Nolan.