PA MediaA food waste recycling plant that suffered a gas explosion when it was hit by lightning was granted permission for a protection mast in June.
Severn Trent Green Power refused to confirm whether the 22m (72ft) mast had been installed prior to the incident in Oxfordshire on Monday.
The company said its site operated in line with all industry standards.
It added that it had existing lightning and earthing protection on its biogas tanks.
A Health and Safety Executive spokesperson said it would carry out an on-site inspection at the plant.
Severn Trent Green Power Severn Trent Green Power received permission from Oxfordshire County Council for a lightning protection mast in June.
As part of its application in February, it said the mast would “reduce the risk of a lightning strike on the digester tanks and infrastructure at the facility”.
“Having lightning protection at anaerobic digestor sites, such as is proposed at the Cassington plant, is considered to be best practice,” it said.
The firm, which says it is the largest producer of renewable energy from food waste in England and Wales, operates 10 other anaerobic digester facilities and five composting sites.
A company spokesperson said following the incident parts of the plant were “up and running again” and that repairs were “largely limited to the tops of three containers is taking place”.
“The site that is built and operated in line with all industry standards, was quickly and safely contained,” they said.
“We will continue to work with the emergency services as we understand more about what happened when the lightning struck.”
Jane GrantIndustry body the Anaerobic Digestion Bioresources Association said it intended to “lead a review into whether standards need to be reinforced to deal with the increased frequency of severe weather conditions”.
Oxfordshire Fire and Rescue Service said it was also investigating whether steps could be taken to prevent similar incidents occurring again.
