Developer of Renewable Energie Baywa Re has announced that it has protected a building permit for its flagship Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) project in Scotland.
Section 36 Planning Stamping has been awarded for Redshaw Bess of Baywa Re, located in South Lanarkshire, Scotland, after the company has submitted a planning application for the project in March of this year. The developer states that to date this is the largest Bess project in Europe.
The Redshaw Bess will be built next to the planned 400/132kv Redshaw substation of Scottish Power Transmission. The project is located on the B6 limit, the developer notes that it is an important point of the scheduling restriction between Scotland and England.
Gemma Hamilton, head of development strategy and origin at Baywa Re., Said that this was a key factor in choosing the location of the site to maximize its positive impact on the future of the renewable energy of the UK. She added that protecting permission from the planning for the Redshaw Bess “is more than a milestone for our project”, and “a dedication to the future stability of the British grid and the acceleration of our clean energy transition”.
The developer has set up a Community Benefit Fund for the project that the local community will offer at least £ 50,000 a year during the operational lifespan of the project. Baywa Re states that extra financing can be attracted to the Benefit Fund Community via Matching schemes.
In addition, Baywa Re has planned improvements for the site, including native bidland creation, recovery from Veenland and improved habitat management to achieve a net profit on the site on the site.
Daniel Gäfke, COO at Baywa Re, stated that the company is ‘proud’ to have insured the planning allocation for the project.
He added: “As we move the next project phase, we are proud to deliver a project that strengthens our dedication to make the energy transition possible through innovation, cooperation and investments in critical infrastructure.”
This year Baywa Re has landed several other successes of the planning moods. In May the developer announced that it had secured the building permit For three solar developments with a combined capacity of 96.5 MW.
All three locations – the 30 MW Woodlands Solar PV energy plant, the 19MW North Farm Development and the 47.5 MW Fleet Solar Farm – will start construction in 2027 before they generate their first solar energy the following year. Baywa Re currently has a British development feeding frame of more than 600 MW onshore wind, 1.4 GWP of solar energy and 1.3 GW of storage projects for battery energy.
