Developer Penso Power wins planning approval for 100MW/250MWh UK BESS on appeal

UK battery storage developer Penso Power has won planning permission on appeal for a 100MW/250MWh battery storage project in Hampshire, southern England. 

The project, near the small village of Bramley, is part of a pipeline of large-scale battery storage projects in the UK funded by BW Energy Storage Systems (BW ESS) under an agreement with Penso Power signed in October 2021. The initial planning permission for the project was rejected in October 2021, but has now been granted after an appeal to the Planning Inspectorate.  

The agreement between the two companies sees a potential pipeline of 3GWh of battery storage capacity, including the 350MW, 5-hour duration (1,750MWh) Hams Hall project in development through a Penso joint venture (JV) with fellow developer Luminous Energy. BW ESS has also become a significant shareholder in Penso Power Ltd.

Penso has previously developed a 100MW battery storage development which started trading in July 2021. That project, the Minety battery, was financed by China Huaneng Group and CNIC Corporation, with Shell Energy Europe signing an offtake agreement for the Wiltshire site in early 2020. Shell Energy Europe said it was the largest battery storage project in Europe at the time.