A battery storage plant covering three hectares of farmland in the green belt is proposed on the edge of York.

However, the development promises to store enough electrical power to fuel 323,795 homes for two hours.

The Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) with associated infrastructure, site levelling works, access, landscaping and ancillary works is proposed on land northwest of Murton Way, York, about 400m north east of Osbaldwick.

The applicant for the 100MW storage scheme is London-based Net Zero Fourteen Ltd, a private company incorporated just last month.

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Plans submitted to City of York Council say if approved, the scheme would provide energy into National Grid and would connect directly into the sub-station at Osbaldwick.

The BESS compound would consist of rows of containers, which would look like shipping containers, which would house batteries, inverters and transformers that can store energy and quickly release or absorb energy from the power network.

There would be up to 104 storage units, 13 transformer units, 26 battery interface cabinets and a 240,000litre water tank. They would use Lithium battery technology.

Around half the site would be used for landscaping and to deliver a net gain in biodiversity.

York Press: The site is marked in red

The storage scheme would be ‘temporary’, being at the site for 40 years.

The application says the proposed development has the Very Special Circumstances to allow it to be built in a Green Belt location.

By increasing the capacity and flexibility in the energy generation network, this will support moves towards a low carbon energy system supported by generation from renewables.

It would also reduce the time and money spent switching off wind farms when they produce too much energy the system can cope with.

It would help City of York Council meet its own commitment to Net Zero, following its own declaration of a climate emergency.

The scheme promises no environmental negative impacts and allows for farm diversification, supporting their incomes.

By enhancing renewable energy sources and the transition to Net Zero, the scheme met national planning policies, despite the Green Belt location.

Its design also aimed to blend in with the local environment and improvements in biodiversity were also promised.

It concluded: “The proposed development would contribute towards the economic, social, and environmental gains of the local area, and also contribute towards the Government’s aspirations to support renewable energy provision.

“In addition, the benefits from the Proposed Development significantly and demonstrably outweigh the harm to the Green Belt and the other harms identified.

“Overall, the Proposed Development will have no significant adverse impact on the site or its surrounds; is consistent with Planning Policy; will achieve a high-quality design as envisaged by the applicant and as required by the Local Planning Authority and Very Special Circumstances exist to justify development in the Green Belt.”