Nairn farmland at Househill eyed up by Huddersfield-based company The Energy Workshop
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An area of farmland partly enclosed by a wood at Househill could become an energy storage facility.
Huddersfield-based company The Energy Workshop sent households in the area details of its plans as part of a public consultation, required by law because it is deemed a major development.
The project is for the siting of up to 50 battery storage units which would be accompanied by transformers, a connection building and other equipment.
The location is partly enclosed by woodland south of the existing Househill Farm Shop and Café although the developer says this is likely to change as the design of the site progresses.
The company’s planning director Dan Grierson said developer Whirlwind Energy Storage Limited is working in partnership with landowners Margaret and Gordon Nicolson, who also are in discussions with developer Springfield for a major housing project on another part of their farm.
Mr Grierson added: “The energy storage containers would be based on steel containers finished in grey or green and the site would be surrounded by timber fencing and a significant amount of landscaping in the form of native tree and other planting.
“The site would not be lit when operating and would generate negligible levels of traffic once operating.”
The purpose of the development is to store electrical energy when there is an excess of generation on the network and then the energy would be exported when required by peaks of demand or to cover generation outages.
“This balancing role which energy storage schemes provide on the electrical network is becoming increasingly important as generation from renewable and solar power increases in line with the delivery of Scottish decarbonisation and renewable energy targets and such projects have a very important role in this decarbonisation agenda,” Mr Grierson said.
A planning application will be submitted in March and an online consultation event will be held between 4pm and 7pm today. It can be accessed via Zoom.
