My Lords, I will respond briefly to this group of amendments on long-duration energy storage. We thank the noble Lord, Lord Fuller, for bringing forward Amendment 82A. These are important topics. While long-duration energy storage facilities are essential to the energy transition and have a very high safety record, they are still an emerging technology and it is right that we seek to balance planning and safety regulations with the need to build these facilities. To be clear, a number of the fires that he referred to were from individual batteries and not big long-duration energy storage facilities. As far as I am aware, there have been only two such fires in the UK. These big long-duration energy storage facilities have a very strong safety record.

However, it is true that UK fire and rescue services have described BESS and long-duration energy storage facilities as an emerging risk, noting that when these fires occur, they can last for hours or days and produce toxic emissions. I am grateful to the noble Lord for bringing forward this amendment, as it rightly highlights the critical importance of the safety of long-duration energy storage as we accelerate towards our energy transition.

The amendment would establish a specific statutory duty requiring operators of long-duration energy storage systems to consult local fire authorities prior to installation, with the authority empowered to assess fire risks and levy a reasonable fee for doing so. On the face of it, I recognise the merits of such an approach. These can pose material risks and it is important that the fire brigade is involved and included in some of these planning decisions. It is also important that our fire services are aware of and prepared for particular hazards and have clear plans to deal with them should anything untoward happen. That being said, there are questions as to whether a statutory provision of this kind is the right or appropriate mechanism at this stage. A number of regulatory avenues already apply, including planning law, the Health and Safety at Work etc Act, and general fire safety legislation. The Government have also indicated their intention to update planning and permitting frameworks, considering the rapid growth of battery storage technologies. It is absolutely right that they do so.

My question really is directed to Ministers. I think it is for the Government to set out their vision for long-term regulatory and planning frameworks for long-duration energy storage. To be clear, a statutory provision is not necessarily the only option, or even the best option. While I thank the noble Lord for bringing his amendment, I am keen to hear from the Government what they plan to do on this topic. I would like to know what conversations they are having with the fire authorities and what the general plan is to go from here.

When I read Amendment 82B in the name of the noble Lords, Lord Offord of Garvel and Lord Roborough, I was not against it but questioned why they particularly wanted to bring it forward. The noble Lord has clarified that it is basically seeking to monitor and get a sense of what is happening with the introduction of this long-duration energy storage. Recently, we had the House of Lords report on this, and it is an important part of our energy transition and the stability of our network. To be clear, this was not in any way the cause of the fire in the Iberian peninsula. The noble Lord, Lord Roborough, says that there should be a five-year reporting mechanism. I ask him whether that needs to be shortened. I am not against his amendment, but, considering we are to have clean power for 2030, to be effective we would really need a yearly reporting mechanism. With that, I welcome both amendments.