A recycling plant in Oxfordshire suffered a gas explosion after being hit by lightning. It was revealed that the facility, operated by Severn Trent Green Power, had been granted permission for a protection mast in June, but the company declined to comment on whether it had been installed. The fire, which occurred after the site was hit multiple times, destroyed the roof of a container but resulted in no injuries or fatalities. The company stated that there was “existing lightning and earthing protection on its biogas tanks” and that its site “operated in line with all industry standards.”
Severn Trent Green Power has permission from Oxfordshire County Council for a lightning protection mast, which it said “will reduce the risk of a lightning strike on the digester tanks and infrastructure at the facility.” Its intent is to use best practice with the mast placement at the Cassington plant. The company is the largest producer of renewable energy from food waste across England and Wales and operates ten other anaerobic digester facilities and five composting sites.
The Health and Safety Executive, as well as the Oxfordshire Fire and Rescue Service, will carry out separate investigations into the incident. Following the explosion, the Anaerobic Digestion Bioresources Association said it will review standards to determine if reinforcement is necessary to handle increasingly extreme weather conditions. A similar incident occurred in 2016 when a lightning strike caused a fire that burned a waste digester for 20 minutes and tore off its roof, operated by Agrivert at Benson near Wallingford.
The extent of destruction at the Cassington recycling plant was largely limited to the tops of three containers. The company has stated that it is now working with emergency services to investigate what occurred when the lightning struck, however, parts of the plant are “up and running again,” the spokesperson said. Severn Trent Green Power is a subsidiary of Severn Trent Water, which supplies water and wastewater treatment services for over 4.4 million households and businesses in the Midlands and mid-Wales
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