Battery Energy Storage System (Bess) Developer Balance Power today (April 17) announced that it has been received a building permit for a 49.5 MW Bess in Staffordshire.
The Hinksford Bess, located in Hinksford, South Staffordshire, consists of 36 battery units spread over a 2.59 hectare site. The electricity produced by the project is expected to reduce the local CO2 Emissions with approximately 18,300 tons per year, which corresponds to taking 13,200 cars from the road. In addition, the biodiversity improvements set in the project have been set to deliver an increase of 154.98% in habitate units in the area.
South Staffordshire Council approved the project in a unanimous decision after an extensive consultation process with the local community. The approval of the planning was granted for a 40-year operational lifespan, after which the system will be dismantled and the country will be restored.
Although a starting date before the start of construction has not yet been confirmed, the developer states that the Bess will be operational in the fall of next year.
Dan Levy, planning manager at Balance Power said that the project will be “crucial” to balance the grid in the area. He continued to thank the South Staffordshire Council and the local community for their support in providing approval, and added: “It is due to our collective efforts and close cooperation that we have achieved this rewarding results.”
Balans Power currently has a 2GW development feeding line in the UK and, since the launch in 2017, has successfully improved nearly 40 projects to plan permission. The developer obtained various important approvals from schedules in 2024, including one by a 99 MW/99MWH Bess in Iron Acton, South Gloucestershire, for which the company has stated that it is currently negotiating an accelerated grid connection date with National Grid.
That same month, Balance Power also announced that the developmental permission had been given for a Bess project of 49.5 MW/99MWH in Leicestershire, which is expected to be fully confirmed in October of this year.
In July 2024, Balance Power achieved a debt facility of £ 5.1 million with investment manager Triple Point to stimulate the solar and Bess developments in the UK. Part of this financial package is used to acquire the 6MWP Roborough project of Regener8 Power, a PV development on solar energy that is located near Plymouth in southwestern England.
The partnership between Balance Power and Triple Point marks the first time that the two companies have worked together.
