A new player in the UK battery energy storage system (BESS) market has teamed up with five major planning consultancies to prepare planning applications for 40 BESS projects across the country.
Root-Power, which was launched last month as a specialised BESS offshoot of YLEM Energy, has appointed planning consultancy firms Lanpro, PWA Planning, RCA Regeneration, ELG Planning, and Clive Fagg Planning, to accelerate the delivery of its 40-project BESS pipeline.
The projects range in scale from 11MW to 100MW, and collectively will provide 2GW of storage capacity. Planning applications will be submitted throughout the remainder of 2024.
According to Root-Power, one of the largest projects in their pipeline has already reached the advanced development stage of the planning process. If approved, the 100MW/200MWh project will be located in Granborough, Buckinghamshire.
Neil Brooks, managing director at Root-Power said: “This is a very exciting time for Root-Power as we continue our mission to establish ourselves as one of the largest owner-operators of energy storage systems in the UK.”
UK BESS pipeline continues to grow
Recent weeks and months have seen an influx of new BESS planning applictaions and approvals from a variety of developers.
Last month, the Harker project, a 200MW/400MWh, 2-hour duration BESS development proposed by Canadian Solar subsidiary Recurrent Energy and Windel Energy, was granted full planning permission by Cumberland Council. Approval was granted despite previous objections from the local community, and construction is now set to begin in Q4 2029 unless an earlier grid connection date can be agreed.
Meanwhile, Scotland’s Highland Council is set to hear proposals for three BESS projects: two by Field Energy and one by Forss Energy Storage. Two of these projects, the Rigifa and Corrimoillie projects, are seeking approval for 200MW of storage capacity, while the third, the Forss project, seeks to develop a 49.9MW BESS within the existing Forss Business and Technology Park, near Thurso.
Statera has recently seen a planning consent win, with Dorset Council approving planning permission for a 400MW/2,400MWh BESS project at East Chickerell Court Farm, Weymouth.
Neil Brooks, managing director of Root-Power, spoke to our sister publication Current± about the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF). Read it here.