Welcome to the proposed
Featherstone Batteries
Consultation Website
On this website we introduce the various elements of the proposed scheme, the justification behind it, and explain how you can stay informed about the project and provide us with your thoughts about it.
The proposed scheme will allow for the most efficient use of energy, in connection with the nearby National Grid Substation at Bushbury. It will enable energy received from renewable sources, such as wind and solar, to be stored and then released when customers need power most. The scheme is known as a Battery Energy Storage System, which the Government have recognised as being important to enhancing our energy infrastructure in an appropriate manner to help achieve Net Zero by 2050.
This website will be updated as the project progresses.
We intend to obtain feedback from the local community about the proposal, to help inform the final version of the application. This website assists us in obtaining comments from the local community through the ‘Comments’ tab. We have already notified the following stakeholders about the intended application, in order to increase awareness in the local community;
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Featherstone and Brinsford Parish Council
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Cllr Cope (Ward Councillor)
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Cllr Brindell (Ward Councillor)
We hope you find the website of interest and look forward to hearing from you via the Comments page.
About Us
The Applicant, Chiltern Green Energy Ltd, is a Bedfordshire based company that has been planning for and introducing renewable energy schemes since 2010 (previously known as Chiltern Renewables Ltd). Their initial scheme, for a 5 MW Solar Farm, was introduced some 13 years ago at Cotswold Business Park, Caddington, Bedfordshire.
The company are currently progressing 9 renewable projects across the south of England involving Solar Farms and Battery Storage, which have the combined potential to generate almost 2000MW of renewable energy. The projects have also included financial contributions to the local communities to assist with community projects, typically managed by the local Parish Council.
Consultant Team
The Applicant is supported by an experience Consultant Team who have been involved with many of the company’s previous projects. AM2 Planning are the planning agent and Pegasus Group provide expert input for many of the other disciplines that are necessary for such a scheme.
Why This Site?
![P23_0081_EN_01A SLP Zoom[87][3][72].jpg](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/7ffde8_2539883d0518488eb4dc07843f7dd42d~mv2.jpg/v1/crop/x_189,y_200,w_3466,h_3103/fill/w_712,h_637,al_c,q_85,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,enc_avif,quality_auto/P23_0081_EN_01A%20SLP%20Zoom%5B87%5D%5B3%5D%5B72%5D.jpg)
![P23_0081_EN_01A SLP Zoom[87][3][72]_edited.jpg](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/7ffde8_e32bc46102474de5a9db1d28c65b7833~mv2.jpg/v1/crop/x_5,y_0,w_332,h_158/fill/w_143,h_68,al_c,q_80,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,enc_avif,quality_auto/P23_0081_EN_01A%20SLP%20Zoom%5B87%5D%5B3%5D%5B72%5D_edited.jpg)
SITE LOCATION
When electricity is transferred over distance there will be a loss of part of that electrical energy through ‘leakage’. This is primarily in the form of heat. The comparatively close proximity of the application site to the established Bushbury Substation to the south-west will help ensure that such leakage is minimised and the energy is managed in the most efficient manner.
It is recognised that the site does have a number of constraints that will need careful consideration in preparing the scheme, as explained below…..
Site Analysis
The following works will be undertaken to support any future planning application on this site, and inform the final design of the scheme.
To view the various disciplines under consideration, click on the side arrows below:
As defined by the Staffordshire Landscape Character Assessment (2011) landscape assessment, the site is within the ‘Settled Heathlands’ Landscape Character Area. The LCA is described as “… a flat, intensively farmed landscape characterised by a well-wooded appearance due either to the high percentage of interlocking woodlands or coalescence of stunted hedgerow oaks and overgrown hedgerows.” The site is not within any Landscape Designations.
An assessment of the landscape character and features of the site and surrounding landscape will be provided within the Landscape and Visual Impact Assessment (LVIA) which will accompany the planning application. A Zone of Theoretical Visibility (ZTV) has been used as a starting point to identify visual receptors (for example users of public rights of way who view the landscape). Viewpoints have been recorded from various distances and directions to represent potential views experienced by the receptor groups. These viewpoints are then assessed within the LVIA against the proposed layout to identify the magnitude of change to views and the resulting potential effects. Any identified potential effects will be mitigated (where necessary) with planting proposals around the site which, for example, may help to screen views or enhance the existing landscape pattern.
Landscape
Battery Storage
What is battery storage?
Battery storage technologies are essential to speeding up the replacement of fossil fuels with renewable energy. Battery storage systems will play an increasingly pivotal role between green energy supplies and responding to electricity demands.
Battery storage, or battery energy storage systems (BESS), are devices that enable energy from renewables, like solar and wind, to be stored and then released when customers need power most.
Lithium-ion phosphate batteries are currently the dominant storage technology for large scale plants to help electricity grids ensure a reliable supply of renewable energy.
Why is battery storage important and what are its benefits?
Battery storage technology has a key part to play in ensuring homes and businesses can be powered by green energy, even when the sun isn’t shining or the wind has stopped blowing.
Everyday engineers at electricity grids must match supply with demand. Managing these peaks and troughs becomes more challenging when the target is to achieve net zero carbon production, by phasing out fossil fuel plants that have traditionally been used as a back-up to provide a reliable, steady supply of energy.
The UK government estimates technologies like battery storage systems – supporting the integration of more low-carbon power, heat and transport technologies – could save the UK energy system up to £40 billion by 2050, ultimately reducing people’s energy bills.
How does a battery storage system work?
Intelligent battery software uses algorithms to coordinate energy production and computerised control systems are used to decide when to keep the energy to provide reserves or release it to the grid. Energy is released from the battery storage system during times of peak demand, keeping costs down and electricity flowing.
Our Proposal
The established Bushbury Substation receives an increasing amount of energy generated from renewable sources, which it cannot make the best use of, for reasons explained in the ‘Battery Storage’ section. The proposed scheme will therefore help manage such electricity by storing it, and then releasing it when it is needed.
The application will be in outline form, with the principle of the scheme and the access to be determined at this stage, and the detailed layout and equipment to be used subject to subsequent submissions and approvals.
The batteries will be introduced to the northern half of the site as is apparent on the Illustrative Layout below. The batteries themselves will be positioned within storage container structures to a height of approximately 3m. Each container will have a footprint of approximately 6m x 2.5m, and it is expected that approximately 80 of them will be introduced to the site. The scheme will have an import/export connection of 100 MW.
In addition to the containers, the scheme will also include a Substation, Transformers, Switchrooms and Inverter Units as shown on the Illustrative Layout above.
The siting of the containers has been informed by the visual and ecological context of the site and surroundings. The existing pond, which is central within the site, will be maintained and enhanced, with development set sufficiently far from it to avoid any adverse impact to it. The containers and substation are set in a sufficient distance from the site boundaries to enable the retention of existing hedgerows and offer opportunities for new planting.
New planting will enable the enhancement of the current biodiversity levels across the site, through the introduction of plants and new habitats to encourage local wildlife to thrive.
From information available to date a landscape strategy has been drawn up and CGI’s generated to understand what the scheme will look like from relevant surrounding viewpoints in the short and longer term.
Proposed and existing planting will help ensure the development is largely screened from surrounding public viewpoints, as illustrated by the following images which show the associated predicted views. The super imposed yellow lines show where the development would be beyond the hedgerow, but the existing/retained hedgerow would screen this from users of New Road.
Following consultations with local residents, we have been able to put forward a reduction in the scale of development proposed at the site. Evolving battery technology has meant that a 100MW scheme can now be implemented with fewer batteries, across a smaller area than initially proposed. The revised layout show a reduction in the proposed developed area accordingly, which has the effect of moving both the batteries and the substation further away from the highway, and significantly the housing beyond
CGI's
VIEW FROM NEW ROAD AND BANBERRY DRIVE, LOOKING NORTHWEST - EXISTING
The below images shows an established battery storage sites, to give an indication of what the structures will look like, albeit for reasons explained above, views of the proposed scheme from outside of the site will be largely screened.
Typical Battery Storage site in operation
Finally, the Applicant recognises that it is reasonable for the local community that hosts such a scheme, to gain some direct benefit from it, in addition to the green energy benefits already referred to. When introducing other renewable energy schemes the Applicant has agreed with the local Parish Council to provide an annual financial contribution to assist with local projects, and they would be happy to do the same in this instance. Discussions will be held in due course with Featherstone and Brinsford Parish Council in this respect, but if any other bodies might be appropriate to manage such contributions please advise through the comments page.