Renewables developer Innova has acquired planning permission for a 940MW battery energy storage system (BESS) project with a storage capacity of 1,880MWh in North-West England, UK.
With planning permission submitted in June 2023 and agreed by Lancaster City Council on 28 November, the Heysham Energy Storage standalone project will be located on 72 acres of land – including 22 acres of landscaping and planting – on land owned by Fanny House Farm in Heysham. Heysham is a village near the country’s coastline around 105km from each of two major northern cities in Manchester and Liverpool.
Innova has also committed to setting up a local community benefit fund totalling £47,000 (US$59,613) a year throughout the project’s 50-year lifetime.
“As our second transmission consented ESS project in two months, achieving planning permission for Heysham Energy Storage represents another great stride forward in Innova’s mission to deliver vital energy storage in strategic locations, whilst positively improving the environment,” said Lizzie Tearle, senior project manager at Innova.
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“On behalf of Innova, I’d like to take this opportunity to thank officers of Lancaster City Council, the landowners, their representatives, and our planning consultants at Wardell Armstrong for their engagement with the team throughout the planning process.”
Innova has been bolstering its BESS portfolio of late, including an agreement for a £40 million debt faculty for solar and BESS with investment manager Triple Point in November.
Planning permission for the Heysham project also follows Innova achieving full consent for the transmission system-connected 400MW/800MWh Blackdyke storage project – the first in its portfolio to do so. Although a construction start date is yet to be announced, it must commence within three years of the projects receiving consent, to avoid blocking the transmission connection queue.
This story first appeared on Solar Power Portal.
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