Richborough Energy Park expansion gets green light

Artist's impression of Richborough Energy Park

A bid to expand a renewable energy park across an 11-acre site has been given the green light.

Thanet District Council has approved plans to erect 201 container units across a site in Sandwich Road, Manston as part of the Richborough Energy Park.

The 2.9m (9.5ft) tall structures housing batteries will take two years to install.

They will produce "no emissions, noise or vibrations", the park's operator, Sheaf Energy Ltd, said.

Energy giant Pacific Green has previously confirmed its intent to acquire the battery storage facility - known as Sheaf Energy Ltd - and says work has already commenced at the site.

Planning documents produced by Sheaf Energy say: "The battery storage of electricity is an important piece of the renewable infrastructure and is a key part of the move to a low-carbon network."

"Energy production from renewables and nuclear cannot be 'turned off' - the sun still shines and the wind still blows, irrespective of the need at that time.

"The electricity is therefore wasted if it is unused, so battery storage allows for this to be harnessed and delivered to the network at other times."

The 201 batteries will have a lifespan of 30 years

The land directly borders the Sandwich Bay and Hacklinge Marshes Site of Special Scientific Interest.

Once the project is complete it will be managed off-site and will not require staff present on a daily basis, Sheaf Energy said, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

Thanet District Council's planning committee has approved the proposals, despite concerns about the origin of the electricity to be stored in the batteries.

Mike Garner, from the Green and Independent bloc on the council, said: "If it isn't renewable energy being stored here, then obviously we're not particularly taking account of climate change, we're exacerbating it."

The scheme had already been scrutinised by the Environment Agency, the planning committee was told.

The agency raised no objections to the proposal, while the likes of Natural England and Kent County Council's biodiversity team also supported the project, councillors heard.

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