Planning permission secured for new battery storage facility in East Yorkshire

Planning permission has been secured for the construction of a 49.5MW battery storage facility on a two acre site on land adjacent to Creyke Beck substation, Cottingham, near Hull.

Harmony Energy Storage Ltd, advised by Carter Jonas’ Infrastructure and Energy team, was given planning approval by East Riding of Yorkshire Council’s Planning Committee.

The new facility is set to incorporate a total of 17 battery units.

Harmony Energy is an independent developer of utility-scale energy storage systems. The company focuses on building, owning and operating a portfolio of assets across the UK, providing a range of grid balancing - matching the supply of energy to demand - and ancillary services to National Grid and other providers.

Peter Kavanagh, director of Harmony Energy, said: “The energy market and its technology has evolved dramatically since Harmony Energy was founded in 2010. Recent developments have been driven by the need to reduce fossil fuel from our energy mix.

“Over the next three years, developments in energy storage combined with other renewable energy solutions could deliver the lowest cost energy available and will result in creating opportunities in the sector for developers and landowners.

“Because of this, landowners and consultants are increasingly looking at operations, assets and energy in totality to benefit from and deliver smart technology capabilities.”

Clare Davey, senior energy specialist at Carter Jonas, added: “This is the third planning approval for a battery storage facility that the team has achieved in the region in as many months, demonstrating a real momentum among our clients to realise the potential of sites.

“In many cases, only one or two acres of land is required to accommodate a commercial scale storage facility, as was the case in Cottingham. Here a number of factors were addressed to secure planning permission, including the sites flood risk potential, accessibility issues, cultural heritage and archaeology as well as the visual impact of the facility on neighbouring residents.

“We were able to present the committee with viable solutions to concerns raised by the local community and statutory consultees and we are extremely pleased to have assisted in the development of the grid balancing capabilities of the site.”

Looking to promote your product/service to SME businesses in your region? Find out how Bdaily can help →