Developer Innova has been granted planning permission for a 400MW/800MWh battery energy storage system (BESS) in Cumberland, UK, while Banks Renewables has sold a 2,900MWh BESS project to West Burton Energy.
Innova announced the planning approval from Cumberland council for the Blackdyke Farm Energy Storage Project yesterday (9 October), the same day Banks sold the 2.9GWh Thorpe Marsh Green Energy BESS project in South Yorkshire to West Burton Energy.
Blackdyke is the first of Innova’s portfolio of transmission system-connected energy storage projects to be fully consented. Though Innova didn’t say when construction would start, it needs to begin within three years of the decision.
“This is the first in a total of 26 transmission connections Innova are developing which, subject to planning, will bring a further 23GW of energy projects to the UK in the next decade and play a significant role in decarbonising our energy system,” said Ryan Adams, managing director of Innova Renewables Development.
Banks Renewables sale of the Thorpe Marsh BESS to West Burton Energy meanwhile came just days after parent company Banks Group sold it to global investor Brookfield.
West Burton Energy will now take the project on through the planning process, construction and into operations, although a timeline was not revealed in the announcement.
The energy storage capacity of 2,900MWh would make it among the largest BESS projects in development anywhere in the world.
