Plans for an electricity battery farm next to a former power station and the River Trent have been submitted. The scheme, from Tagenergy Development UK Limited, would see a 15-acre battery farm built off Main Road, Walton-on-Trent, in an agricultural field to the west of the former Drakelow Power Station site, close to the Gate C access point.
South Derbyshire District Council will make a decision on the plans in the next few months. This comes two months after the council rejected a planned battery farm off Walton Road, in Drakelow, opposite the Dracan Village development – on the other side of the former power station site.
Councillors had warned that five more battery farm schemes had been on the horizon and wanted to be prepared on how to handle them, with concerns of the cumulative impact. This includes construction traffic pressure on rural routes already said to be overloaded with vehicles heading to Burton and the A38.
The influx in battery farm schemes follows a national move in which solar farm and energy production companies seek to link new renewable energy projects to existing electricity infrastructure in a bid to hit carbon emission reduction and climate change targets. Councillors were also told of a lack of assessment of the fire risk posed by battery farms because they are currently not included in existing building regulations.
A development submitted with the new Walton application details: “The development represents an essential component of the UK’s renewable energy infrastructure to meet net zero emissions. The system serves to flatten out the ‘peaks and troughs’ of renewable energy production to ensure renewable energy is always available, not just during daylight hours or when it is windy.
“The proposal represents a form of low carbon development which would facilitate the efficient operation of the electricity grid and maximise the efficiency of renewable energy generation on the network. Battery storage technologies are increasingly recognised as essential to speeding up the replacement of fossil fuels with renewable energy and playing a pivotal role between green energy supplies and responding to electricity demands.
“The proposals would relieve development pressure from prospective installations of other, more land-hungry renewable energy schemes.” The facility would be able to store up to a gigawatt of electricity, enough to provide four hours of emergency energy supplies.
If the site is approved, dozens of containers measuring 8.8 metres long, two metres wide and four metres in height would be installed on the plot.
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