A second bid to create a controversial electricity storage complex on open farmland has been submitted.

A previous planning application was turned down by Burnley Council after it was deemed to have failed to demonstrate the ‘very special circumstances’ needed for the complex to store 45 megawatts of energy to be allowed in open 'Green Belt' countryside.

National company 24 Power Limited want to build the bank of 42 batteries on 2.5acres near the site of the former Huncoat Power Station.

The firm says the development, mainly in Burnley borough, will help 'decarbonise, modernise and reinforce the existing electricity grid' and boost energy security.

Neighbouring Hyndburn Council strongly objected to the scheme warning it could threaten its proposals to develop more than 1,500 new homes in the £100 million Huncoat Garden Village.

Now 24 Power Ltd have resubmitted its application for land west of the A56 and southwest of Junction 8 of the M65 near the site of the former Huncoat Power Station to both local planning authorities.

It proposes an energy facility compound including energy storage units, associated transformers and electrical equipment cabinets, an electrical control building and landscaping.

A supporting statement says: "The proposal is a resubmission of the proposal which was refused consent on due to what was considered by the Local Planning Authority to be a failure to demonstrate the ‘very special circumstances’ which would allow consent for the proposal to overcome the overall presumption against development in the Green Belt.

"It is recognised by the applicant that these ‘very special circumstances’ were not adequately communicated in the previous application.

"This resubmission addresses the reasons for the refusal, provides an update of the previous layout, and provides a much greater emphasis on the need for energy storage projects in the UK, as a key element in the transition from gas generation to renewables on the UK Grid, which is now significantly more urgent given the effects of the war in Ukraine on fossil fuel supplies and associated prices."

Key ways in which the proposal has been amended are:

  • The installed capacity has been increased;
  • The predicted annual carbon savings the proposal would deliver have increased;
  • Additional details of the proposed native woodland and screening has been provided;
  • The selected battery technology has been changed from large sea-container based units to smaller modular cabinets.

"A substation on the site of the former Huncoat power station a short distance to the west provides the required point of connection into the electricity distribution network. The proximity of this is the key factor in the identification of the site.

"The site lies to the east of the proposed Huncoat Garden Village.

"Potential dwellings within the garden village may ultimately be constructed around 150 metres to the west of the closest part of the energy storage project but the project has been sited to ensure that existing woodland and topography provides effective screening from this potential future development."