Battery energy storage facility approved

Energy company Net Zero Seventeen will build the facility on farmland near Aspatria, Cumbria

Plans for a new battery energy storage facility have been approved.

Net Zero Seventeen applied to Cumberland Council to build the facility on agricultural land at West Farm near Aspatria, Cumbria.

The development will store energy generated by renewables like wind and solar panels.

A spokesman for the applicant said the development was "much needed" and would help to meet the need to increase energy security.

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

The development will include battery storage containers, control rooms, a road for site access and landscaping.  

Resident Bill Finley spoke against the development at Wednesday's planning committee meeting, saying "it was not the case" that the development would "keep Cumberland’s lights on".

Kevin Thurlow, an independent councillor for Aspatria, also opposed the application because he felt there was a more suitable site on the B5301, close to an existing substation.

But Alison Williams, a senior planning officer, said the proposed site was near the grid and added: “We don’t feel there is a reason for refusal.”

Hundreds of energy storage batteries have already been built across the UK, although concerns about them have been raised.

These include 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.

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