Approval set for battery energy storage system project

Plans for a battery energy storage system (BESS) project in Dorset, which would be capable of providing enough power to supply more than 13,000 homes each year, could soon secure approval.Land south of Coldharbour, Chickerell, has been earmarked for the scheme by applicant Corylus Planning & Environmental.A Dorset Council report said the proposal would make a “significant contribution towards tackling climate change” through the provision of battery storage. It would be enough to supply the average annual electricity needs of 13,491 households, equating to almost 8 per cent of households in Dorset.Proposals include the installation of a 60MW BESS, associated infrastructure, enclosing compound, landscaping and access.The application is for the smaller of the two battery energy systems currently being considered in Chickerell.Dorset Council’s strategic and technical planning committee will discuss the application on Monday (4 March).The report for the committee noted that large scale battery storage is identified at a national level as playing an essential role in energy transition and ability to fully decarbonise the electricity grid by 2035 and achieve Net Zero by 2050.It said that biodiversity net gains would be achieved through on-site planting, including new woodland and wildflower planting.It said the proposed development would have limited and localised adverse landscape and visual impacts and would not harm the Dorset National Landscape (AONB), adding that appropriate mitigation would be secured via planning condition to minimise adverse impacts.A recommendation has been made to grant permission subject to planning conditions.