East Riding Council has approved plans for the development of a Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) near the Saltend Chemicals Park.
BESS’s are used to store energy generated from renewable power sources such as wind turbines and solar panels. The facilities can store the energy and release it to balance the grid, ensuring people have power on days when the wind isn’t blowing or the sun isn’t shining.
The application seeks to erect the facility, which documents submitted to the council say “will contribute to the UK’s transition to Net Zero and contribute to security of energy supply,” on a piece of land to the north of Staithes Road, near the Saltend Chemicals Park.
Earlier this month, the council also approved another BESS which is to be built less than kilometre away from the site in question however the latest approved BESS is even larger than the last. The BESS approved a few weeks ago is to sit on a 2.7 hectare piece of land whilst the latest application states this BESS will sit on 4.7 hectares. In both cases plans ensure that the actual land utilised for the development will be smaller than the overall site area.
(Image: East Riding of Yorkshire Council Planning Portal)
The BESS will consist of 216 battery containers in total, arranged in blocks of four. Plans explain that the batteries operate best when between 5 and 25 degrees Celsius. In order to ensure the batteries can run optimally, each battery will have a cooling unit which, plans say, will tend to be used during the summer when temperatures are higher.
Directly to the south of the site is an existing caravan storage business. Submitted plans say there are “no proposals to remove this.”
It is expected the project will be built and connected to the National Grid by 2028.
Keep up to date with all the latest breaking news and top stories from Hull with our free newsletter