Electricity battery storage site approved near Shropshire village

Greenfield Energy Developments’ application for the scheme, on land off the A4169, Buildwas Bank Road, at Buildwas, was given the green light by Shropshire Council’s planning department.

Access for the battery energy storage system (BESS) will be off a newly located entrance and exit onto the A4169.

The site, which is near to the former Buildwas Power Station, covers 2.43 hectares, with approximately 1.3 hectares dedicated to the compound which will make up the development.

The scheme will see battery container units added to the site, along with transformers, inverters, a 132kV substation, a storage container and welfare container, and a water tank.

A design and access statement submitted by DWD on behalf of the applicants, explains the site will be used to balance electricity for the national grid, when demand is high, or supply is lower.

It states: “The proposed development comprises the construction and operation of a BESS facility of up to 99.9 megawatts (MW) electrical capacity, associated site access and infrastructure, and landscaping on land to the north of Buildwas Bank and east of Buildwas.

“The BESS would connect into the grid via the former Ironbridge Power Station Substation which is located approximately 1.2km to the southeast of the site.

“The proposed development would take energy from the electricity grid when demand is higher or supply is lower, thus operating in either ‘energy charge’, ‘energy storage’ or ‘energy discharge’ modes while providing support balancing services to the National Grid.”

The application explains that the facility will play a “key role in supporting a highly renewable electricity system which is required to meet the UK Government’s legally binding target of net-zero carbon emissions”.

Approving the application Shropshire Council said: “The proposal would provide support to the transition to a low carbon energy production regime by enabling electricity generated by renewable means to be stored and then released during times of peak demand.

“The proposal would not raise significant issues in relation to local & visual amenity or highways safety, and satisfactory landscape mitigation and significant biodiversity gain would be provided.”