Renewable energy developer RES has failed to gain approval for the proposed Stoneworthy Energy Storage project in Devon.
The decision to reject the 49.9MW Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) project was made at a meeting of Torridge District Council, with councilors voting six to two to refuse planning permission, despite the fact that the assigned case officer had recommended granting permission.
If the plan had been approved, 32 BESS units would have been built on site, located on 3.6 hectares of land in Pyworthy, Devon. Local residents objected to the number of new renewable energy projects being built in the area, with Dr David Hillebrandt objecting to the “further desecration of the Devon countryside”.
Other local residents raised concerns about the risk of fire from the BESS project, with the Devon branch of national charity CPRE noting that the nearest home would be at risk from toxic fumes if a fire were to break out on site.
However, neither Natural England, the Environment Agency nor the local fire brigade have raised any objections to the proposals, and ecological assessments suggest the development would have resulted in a net biodiversity gain of 21.9% in habitat units and 34.06% in hedgerow units.
John Hills, development project manager at RES, said: “This is a very disappointing outcome for the Stoneworthy proposal, which would have played a key role in managing the increasingly complex supply and demand needs of the 21st century.
“In addition, the location could provide the area with a significant net benefit for biodiversity. We will now take time to review the details provided by the committee.”
Developers facing planning hurdles
RES is not the only renewable energy developer facing planning problems. Low Carbon was recently refused planning permission for a 30MW solar farm by Wiltshire Council, with objectors citing concerns about potential damage to local waterways and the location of 50% of the project on prime and most versatile agricultural land.
In August, Suffolk County Council launched a legal challenge against an approved solar project from Sunnica, a 500MW solar and storage project classified as a Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project (NSIP). The council argued that the Minister of Foreign Affairs had not taken into account the financing arguments he had put forward at the time of the application. However, less than a month later, the council dropped their legal challenge due to “the cost of legal fees versus the likely financial return from a successful outcome”, making it unjustifiable to use public funds.
