RES has submitted a planning application for a proposed 100MW battery energy storage system (BESS) in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland.
Planning documents indicate that the Shaneragh development is likely to consist of 116 battery storage containers, in addition to a 110kV BESS substation and a 110kV Distribution Network Operator (DNO) substation. In addition, a number of biodiversity improvements have been proposed for the site, including the planting of native hedgerows and grasslands. According to RES, the site was chosen primarily for its proximity to the Dromore substation, which it will connect to.
Fermanagh and Omagh District Council’s planning committee will now assess RES’s planning application, with a decision expected later this year. If approved, RES predicts the project will take approximately 15 months to complete.
Peter Henry, development project manager for RES, said: “The importance of battery energy storage systems was demonstrated last October when the interconnector between Britain and Norway suddenly stopped exporting power to Britain. As a result, the frequency of our electrical grid fell well below operational limits and would have resulted in power outages if not for fast-acting frequency services, such as battery energy storage, that could restore the system in two minutes. .
“Our proposal in Shaneragh not only plays an important role in decarbonising our energy system and ensuring electricity grid stability, but would also increase biodiversity in the local environment.”
In RES’s ten years in the BESS sector, the company has developed more than 830 MW of energy storage projects in the UK and Ireland, and currently manages more than 600 MW of operational BESS projects.
RES will start before 2025
Despite being less than ten days into the new year, the Shaneragh proposal is not RES’s first planning announcement this year.
If Solar energy portal On January 3, the company recently announced that it has submitted a planning application for the Beane Solar Farm project, which will be located west of Cottered in Hertfordshire.
The Beane Solar Farm proposal seeks permission for a 49.9 MW solar PV power plant, with a BESS system of undisclosed capacity at the site. Announcing the project, RES highlighted its commitment to increasing biodiversity, stating that the project will have a predicted net biodiversity gain of 98.4% in habitat units, a net biodiversity gain of 189.9% in hedgerow units and a gain of 10 will yield .19% in watercourse units. The land will also be used for agricultural grazing during the operational life of the project.
