Battery storage plans lodged for solar energy park

Proposals to add battery storage capacity to a consented solar energy scheme to the east of Leeds have been submitted to Leeds City Council.

Banks Renewables secured planning approval in 2021 for the Barnsdale Solar Energy Park between Kippax and Allerton Bywater, which would be able to generate enough electricity to meet annual requirements of up to 12,000 family homes.

Since then, the Banks project team has been working on the detail of the project, which will include solar panels covering an area of around 50 hectares of south-facing land and will link directly into the Ledston Primary electricity sub-station which to the south east of the site.

The scheme has now gone back to the council for permission to add a containerised battery energy storage system with the capacity to hold up to 40MW of the electricity generated at the site, which is enough to power around 48,000 homes for two hours during peak times.

Jamilah Hassan, community relations manager at the Banks Group, said: “Adding battery storage to this site will ensure the energy supply can be managed with maximum efficiency and will also reduce energy wastage, which will in turn assist in reducing the cost of energy for consumers.

“The benefits of co-locating battery storage capacity alongside solar energy generation facilities in this way are proven and accepted, and having had a great deal of local support for the Barnsdale project, we hope Leeds City Council’s planning committee will be similarly supportive of this application.

“Maximising the production and storage of renewable energy from sources within the UK is a crucial part of our nation’s ongoing journey towards its Net Zero targets, especially with the current energy security and cost of living crisis in mind.”