Lord Lovat bids for a battery energy storage system near Balblair Quarry after objecting to another BESS scheme nearby suggesting the current site
Lord Lovat’s bid to create a battery energy storage system near Balblair Quarry after he had strongly objected to another such scheme has been met by a storm of protest from locals.
Previously, he was against a battery energy storage system – known as a BESS – at Caulternich Farm suggesting instead a “relocation of a project such as this to the vastly more appropriate brownfield land within Balblair Quarry.”
That scheme was rejected after a similar outpouring by locals who objected on multiple grounds also cited here of impact on the environment, over-development, of an industrial nature in a primarily rural area.
The application is due to be decided later today at Highland Council’s south planning applications committee where councillors will determine whether or not another battery storage scheme is acceptable.
The plan is from LG-B-50A Ltd, a company incorporated in April 2023 and which has Simon, Lord Lovat as the only officer.
It calls for the creation and operation of battery energy storage system (BESS) up to 49.9MW, substations, switchgear and control buildings, landscaping, fencing and ancillary infrastructure.
It calls for 64 battery units; 16 inverter units each served by four battery storage units; new site tracks; underground electricity cables; and temporary construction and storage compounds.
But the “specific BESS model has not yet been selected” so the current design has been “based on the assumption” that each battery unit will be contained within a 6m x 2.4m container.
The site is within a restored area of the Balblair operational quarry about 200 metres southeast of the SSEN site at Beauly and around 465 metres to the south of Wester Balblair and covers an area of approximately just under one hectare.
Of the 27 public comments made on the council’s public portal none were in favour, 26 were objections and most of those in the strongest terms along with a formal objection from Kilmorack Community Council.
It argued that the proposal is not in accordance with the development plan because of the “scheme specific and cumulative adverse effects and risks not being outweighed by the asserted benefits of the scheme”.
“Difficult to visualise the complexity and variety of cumulative effects arising from a range of renewable energy projects comprising existing, consented, and proposed elements.
“This cumulative aspect of a considerable number of renewable energy related projects coming forward in a short time frame is a very major concern to the Community Council”.
