A PROPOSED £50m battery storage facility near Milton Farm, Beattock could be fully operational by 2027 if Dumfries and Galloway Council give it the go ahead.
Renewco Power ran through a presentation at last week’s Moffat Community Council meeting to give an update on their plans for their planned battery energy storage system (BESS).
The clean energy company say the facility will provide ‘a renewable source of ‘dispatchable power’, on demand, replacing fossil fuel sources’.
And a single full charge could provide ‘sufficient energy to power around 20,000 homes for a day’.
Senior developer William Black said: “One of the key concepts of battery storage is that you can actually charge or take energy from the grid, where we’re generating electricity from wind or solar, and it can store that. It can then be used to release the energy locally when it’s required.”
Changes to the plans since a public event in April included the number of units being reduced from 52 to 44, while still achieving 49.9MWac (megawatt alternating current) and internal access tracks being widened following discussions with the local fire service.
Surveys on ecology, noise, flooding, landscape and visual and cultural heritage all found no impacts on the surrounding area.
It was noted that a worst case construction programme has been estimated to take eight months, while the proposed construction traffic route cited how construction vehicles would access the site via the C103A.
A full slide on the presentation also detailed a number of fire prevention and management measures.
On the next steps, William added: “In terms of where we’re at, we’ve gone through the process of designing the project. We have submitted the planning application to the local authority. They’re considering the application at the moment.
“The next step we’re expecting is for planners to write their recommendations.
“It’ll then go to the planning committee who will consider it and decide to either recommend it for approval or refusal. We will go from there.
“We are kind of hoping that that happens before the end of the year.
“All going well, we can start on site by 2026.”
Find out more at renewcopower.com/portfolio/united-kingdom/uk-projects/milton-farm-battery-storage-project/
