Plan for huge new battery storage facility near Wombourne is recommended for approval
Plans for a huge 60-megawatt battery storage system have been recommended for approval and will be considered by South Staffordshire District Council next week.
The facility outside Wombourne will have 64 battery units along with security fencing. Two access tracks will be established along with a new access point along Flash Lane, which will be four metres wide. The storage facility will utilise the existing overhead line into Penn Substation.
The application has received three objections from local residents who raised concerns over the loss of character and the impact on wildlife. Councillor Daniel Kinsey additionally raised five concerns, which he says should be factored into any decision.
The planning statement submitted by the applicant states: “The proposal would have a profoundly positive landscape influence, incorporating native trees and hedgerows, whilst generating notable biodiversity net gains. The site will have at most a negligible impact on the local transport network, and there would be no unacceptable risk to local ecology or heritage.”
The Canal and River Trust has also advised that permission should not be granted as the applicant has failed to demonstrate the proposal would not result in detrimental impacts on visual amenities and the setting of the canal. Wombourne Parish Council has also raised concerns over the proposals.
The report by planning officers states: “The proposed battery energy storage facility (BESS) meets the definition of grey belt and would not be inappropriate development in the Green Belt. The development would make a significant contribution to energy security, by allowing surplus electricity from the grid to be stored and used when it is most needed.
“Government policy states that storage is needed to avoid waste, reduce the costs of the electricity system and increase reliability. National policy advises that developments should be located where impacts are, or can be made, acceptable.
“It is considered that the location of the proposed development within the undulating landscape, together with the existing and proposed landscaping would result in a development that has a limited impact on the openness of the Green Belt and its purposes.
“Taking all factors into consideration, the wider environmental benefits of the development in the context of the governments national strategy of decarbonising the country’s energy system and the uplift in site biodiversity, are considered to clearly outweigh any harm to the nearby heritage assets and the Green Belt, which is limited.”
