BESS projects help with the twin challenges of renewable energy intermittency and increased electricity demands from heat and transport. As well as evening out generation peaks and troughs – providing resilience and essentially keeping the lights on – they provide fast frequency response. The benefits of the project were recognised in the officer’s report which acknowledged “there is a national drive to provide renewable energy and battery storage is an important component of this”.
The project will provide a significant contribution towards meeting the UK Government’s 2050 net-zero carbon and 2035 net zero electricity system targets. As of February 2023, there is estimated to be 2.4GW of operational BESS across 161 sites in the UK. West Burton Energy’s 500MW BESS would increase the total operational BESS capacity in the UK by 21% – a transformational increase, all accommodated on land at the existing power station site.
DWD provided all planning services and collaborated with AECOM to navigate the approach to biodiversity net gain and the updated PPG guidance concerning BESS – proactively engaging with the Fire & Rescue Service to address their concerns whilst preserving the flexibility delivered by the application.
This is the fourth BESS of this scale that the team have consented and we are delighted to have been instructed by West Burton Energy to seek planning permission for a 1.4GW BESS at the former Thorpe Marsh Power Station east of Doncaster.
(image produced by Weedon Architects)