Council approves battery energy storage facility

The site is on land next to Foxcover Lane, by the A19

Plans for a battery energy storage facility have been approved by city councillors.

Newton Energi wants to build on land next to Foxcover Road, close to the A19 in Sunderland.

The development will store energy generated by renewables like wind and solar panels and release it during "periods of extreme demand", according to planning documents.

Due to the amount of development proposed on green belt land, however, councillors had to refer the application to the government to make a final decision in the future.

Plans for the site, which would have a lifespan of 35 years, show control rooms and storage units, as well as a large area containing around 28 battery storage containers, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

Councillors met at City Hall to discuss the plans on Monday and voted unanimously to approve the development.

Hundreds of battery energy storage facilities have already been built across the UK

Although there were no formal public objections during a council consultation on the planning application, Sandhill ward councillor Paul Edgeworth attended Monday’s planning meeting to raise concerns on behalf of residents.

These included fears about potential fire risks and the environmental impact.

On 15 September 2020, a blaze at a battery storage site in Liverpool took 59 hours to extinguish.

Craig Hunter, operation manager at Newton Energi Ltd, stressed the facility would be monitored 24/7 and that there were "multiple layers of safety" to monitor the development and prevent fires, including the ability to remotely isolate battery containers and "fire suppression systems".

Plans for a similar battery energy storage scheme in Boldon Colliery were recently rejected by South Tyneside Council's Planning Committee, against the advice of its officers.