Energy firm slams 'troubling' battery plan refusal

Energi Generation wants to build a battery storage site on a former coal mine in Padiham

An energy firm has said it will appeal against a council's "troubling" decision to refuse permission for a battery storage site on fields in Lancashire.

Energi Generation wants to build the 99.9-megawatt facility on a former coal mine site in Padiham, on the Burnley and Ribble Valley border.

But Burnley Council's development control committee voted to reject the application because of its impact on protected green belt countryside.

A planning officer's report said the proposed facility would be "strikingly at odds with the openness and rural character of the countryside".

It added that the site would involve a "large and conspicuous expanse of industrial plant", reports the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

'Objections not shared'

However Lancashire-based Energi Generation said it was "extremely disappointed" with the council's decison.

"The council have ignored the substantial benefits of this scheme and have demonstrated a troubling pattern of limited cooperation and inadequate communication throughout the process", a spokesperson said.

The firm accused Burnley Council of "choosing to ignore" the Labour Government's Clean Power 2030 report which calls for a five-fold increase in battery storage.

The spokesperson said: "It is particularly notable no statutory consultees raised objections to the application and only nine local objections were raised which bizarrely were not shared with Energi until the council announced their intention to refuse the scheme."

It added that a "very detailed" site selection report highlighted a lack of alternative locations close enough to local sub-stations and the wider grid network.

The company said it will submit an appeal to the Planning Inspectorate.