Safety plans for what will be the UK’s biggest solar farm are set to be approved – despite residents’ fears of a fire or “explosion”.

The government gave the green light for the Cleve Hill Solar Park, located in Graveney, between Faversham and Whitstable, in May 2020.

The project requires a 25-acre 150 megawatt battery storage facility to be built to store power generated by the 880,000 solar panels.

At a meeting of Swale Borough Council’s (SBC) planning committee on Wednesday, it is being recommended by officers that councillors approve a battery safety and management plan for the site.

However, more than 100 residents have written to the local authority objecting to the plans.

In Cleve Hill’s submission to the council, the firm describes how it plans to install 112 cabinets containing lithium ferro phosphate (LFP) batteries, which are widely perceived to be the safest of their type.

But objectors have pointed out there have been more than 65 fires and explosions reported in similar battery storage systems across the world to date.

Marie King of the Graveney Rural Environment Action Team (GREAT) says that the safety plan is “not fit for purpose”.

She told KentOnline: “We know it’s going to go ahead, but what we want is to make sure that it’s as safe as possible and at the moment we don’t believe that the battery safety management plan is robust enough to be approved.”

If the units were to catch fire, an issue arises in how the blaze would be extinguished.

The lithium in batteries cannot be put out with water. Therefore the focus shifts to using the water to cool the surrounding units to prevent them also bursting into flames.

Rocket scientist Sir David Melville CBE, who lives in Graveney, previously said the quantity of water required to prevent the fire from spreading – in what is known as a thermal runaway incident – is enormous.

He said the volume of water the developers have indicated will be stored on-site could be less than a quarter of what would be needed.

Ms King said: “The plan doesn’t include a number of the guidelines that were issued by the National Fire Chiefs Council last year.

“The guidelines state that there should be at least two vehicle access points to the site and there’s only one.”

Kent Fire and Rescue Service, however, has written to SBC saying it is “satisfied” with the safety plan.

Ms King said: “We’ve challenged this with Kent Fire and Rescue and the response that we got is that there’s pedestrian access and if necessary [in an emergency] they would go on foot.

“For that type of installation and size, it’s unbelievable that they would suggest that.”

Cleve Hill has been made to undertake modelling on the possible movement of smoke plumes towards nearby Graveney and the village school.

But Ms King said: “The modelling they did was only on a fire, not on an explosion.

“And the batteries they’re using - LFPs - have a higher propensity for explosion than some other lithium batteries, so there’s more of a chance that will happen than just a fire.”

The SBC report issued ahead of next week’s meeting says LFP batteries are “more subject to explosion risk than other types”.

“No explosion hazard analysis has been provided by the applicant,” it adds.

Ms King argues the safety plan should be deferred to allow it to be improved and return for a decision at a later date.

Find out about planning applications that affect you at the Public Notice Portal

Another objector is Graveney resident Candice McGowan, who writes: “There is still no response to the request for local evacuation plans, to address increased risks of explosions for the batteries, the possibility of multiple fires, toxic fumes and the lack of access to water for possible fires.

“It is appalling that human [life] and wildlife are being completely disregarded.”

Sir David, a former University of Kent vice-chancellor, previously said: “It is a statistical certainty that at least one fire or explosion will occur at some point during its lifetime.

“Just one such battery incident could be catastrophic for the Faversham neighbourhood and its people.”

The professor, who worked for NASA on the moon landings, urged planning chiefs to reject the battery safety and management plan, which he said is inadequate.

Faversham’s MP Helen Whately has also written to the fire minister to convey the many concerns raised about the solar farm.

SBC must meet a statutory deadline to rubber-stamp the battery safety plan or the decision will be passed to the Secretary of State. It is understood that SBC’s deadline has been extended to the end of October.

Cleve Hill has been contacted for comment.