VILLAGERS and parish councillors near Wellington have lost their battle against plans for a huge battery energy storage system (BESS) close to the M5 motorway.

London-based Clearstone Energy has been given a 40-year planning permission to turn 40 acres of agricultural fields into a BESS site next to junction 27 of the motorway, near the main Paddington to Penzance railway line.

Clearstone head of planning Rachel Ness said the complex could store and export 400 MW of electricity to the National Grid, enough power for 82,000 homes a day.

Ms Ness said it was ‘accepted and urgent’ that the UK’s economy needed decarbonising to help tackle climate change.

Mid Devon District Council planning officer Tina Maryan said Clearstone had reduced the battery storage and sub-station part of the site from 15 to 12 acres, while an extra four acres, 28 acres in total, would be turned into new woodland and habitat for birds, otter, amphibians, reptiles, bats, and invertebrates.

Ms Maryan said one field had been removed from the area containing the batteries and infrastructure, which would increase the distance from nearby properties and a larger landscaped area and extra screening would address concerns of nearby residents.

Land outlined in red shows where Clearstone Energy wants to build its battery energy storage system near the M5 junction 27.
Land outlined in red shows where Clearstone Energy wants to build a battery energy storage system near the M5 junction 27. IMAGE: Clearstone Energy.

She said the council’s local plan did not specifically cover energy storage, but it could be considered in the context of national policy for transition to a low carbon society, focussing on the need to minimise vulnerability and improve resilience through support of low carbon energy and associated infrastructure.

Ms Maryan said the development’s impact on the character and appearance of the area could be largely screened and would reduce as the screening matured.

She said although the landscape was ‘often tranquil and interesting’, there were already highly visible high voltage pylons which caused ‘visual discordancy’, and the motorway and railway disrupted the tranquillity and inherent characteristics of the landscape.

Ms Maryan said: “Any negative impact needs to be weighed against the benefits of the proposal.

“The development would provide public benefits in terms of battery storage to help balance the grid and support future development of renewable energy.

Clearstone Energy wants to build a huge battery energy storage system near the M5 motorway.
Clearstone Energy wants to build a huge battery energy storage system near the M5 motorway. PHOTO: Clearstone Energy

“The benefits of the scheme are considered to outweigh the identified harm to the landscape.”

Although some ‘best and most versatile agricultural land’ would be lost, it would be brought back into agricultural use after 40 years. 

Ms Maryan said the site already had planning permission for a business park but with approval of the BESS plan only one of the developments could be built, not both.

The BESS plan involved 100 banks of batteries 59 feet long by 17 feet wide by 8.5 feet high housed inside shipping containers or a similar cabin type unit, as well as 100 inverter units, 50 transformer units, and a sub-station and switchgear compound connected by underground cables to the battery banks.

Parish councillors in Uffculme and Burlescombe expressed opposition to the plans, as did the Campaign to Protect Rural England, and there were nine letters of objection, while 14 individuals wrote to support the proposal.