BESS, Lochaber, Arbroath

The BESS sites are proposed by different developers, who have made agreements with landowners in the vicinity of the existing Grid substation, which has capacity for the different projects put forward. 

The position of the BESS was located at the southern end of the red line boundary to minimise the length of new access track that will be required. 

To address the visibility concerns raised by residents at the first consultation event, the applicant is proposing to move the BESS to the northern extent of the proposed development area.

Whilst a brownfield site would be preferable, none of the undeveloped sites within the industrial estate to the north east of the Grid substation are of sufficient size to accommodate the proposed BESS.

The UK’s electricity grid has historically relied on large power plants to generate electricity. However remaining coal power plants will close by 2025 with the last Scottish one (Longannet) having closed in 2016, and existing nuclear power plants (e.g. Douneray) are reaching the end of their design lives with no new nuclear facilities being planned for Scotland. There is now a requirement to deliver an increasing amount of clean energy through renewable technologies such as offshore / onshore wind and battery storage.

The batteries will store electricity taken from the National Grid via a connection to the existing Arbroath Grid Substation located at East Muirlands Road, Arbroath.  The storage of electricity is necessary to help balance the “load” on the National Grid during times of peak demand – the batteries will be charged up during periods of low demand and then release their electricity to match periods when electricity demand increases. With increasing use of wind turbines in the UK to generate energy, the batteries can help reduce the impact of “pauses” in wind energy generation (e.g. when the prevailing wind is too strong for turbines to operate safely) – reducing the call on more polluting energy systems.

Whilst the local area cannot connect directly to the batteries themselves, the increased use of these flexible storage systems will help balance out supply and demand mismatches and ultimately reduce electricity costs for all consumers.

There are no risks anticipated to local residents from the day-to-day operation of the battery units. They are inert devices and there are no harmful emissions that will come from the site. The units themselves will be located approximately 400m from the nearest residential building, and whilst there is always a risk of fire from any device connected to an electricity supply (just as there is in the home) such risks are considered low. Fire suppression systems will be installed on each battery unit, with management systems also installed to monitor (amongst other things) the unit’s internal temperature. These systems would automatically be deployed if a fire was detected.

The site will be alarmed and monitored 24/7 to ensure against unauthorised access.

It is anticipated that the battery units will be in operation for 40 years, following which the site will be returned to its previous state.

An indicative site layout was shown at the public consultation event on the 25th October and 15th November 2023 which were held at the Webster Memorial Hall, 64 High St, Arbroath DD11 1AW. 

A revised layout is shown below. The SUDS pond has been scaled down to an appropriate size based on a drainage assessment and bunding provided within the landscape buffer to provide additional screening.

The development will be relatively low profile. The battery units are akin to standard 40ft shipping containers and whilst the exact height of the units is still to be finalised (as this is dependent on the supplier), the image in Figure 1 below shows a similar battery energy storage development and provides an indication of what this proposal may look like. Each battery unit is self-contained and will be delivered to the site ready for connection.

There will be one small building on the site which will be a single storey control room. The design of the building will be confirmed at the public consultation event.

Figure 1: Typical battery energy storage site

The cable route from the proposed BESS to the Grid substation will be determined by SSE.

The red line boundary encompasses an area that will accommodate the proposed access, the number of battery storage units required to supply the grid connection capacity based on current proven technologies and the surface water attenuation scheme which includes a Sustainable Urban Drainage (SUDS) basin. 

The development is guided by the date of the transmission grid connection which is 2027. The construction process will be phased with initial enabling works being carried out soon after receipt of planning permission. This will be followed by a period of inactivity until the grid connection has been made, after which the battery units will be installed. The following provides an indicative program of activities:

• Spring 2024 – Receipt of planning permission
• Spring 2024 – Autumn 2024 – site preparation including earthworks, levelling of site, development of access route and planting of all perimeter hedgerows/trees and landscaping 
• Mid 2025 – Construction of equipment foundations/drainage
• Q1 2027 – Construction of control room
• Q1 2027 – Installation of battery energy storage units
• Q1/Q2 2027 – Testing and commissioning

Yes.  Fencing is necessary to deter unauthorised access. The fence design will have vertical bars and be sufficiently wide to allow the passage of small animals through the site. To aid integration into the surrounding rural landscape, it is proposed that mixed native hedging and trees are planted around the entire perimeter of the site on the outside of the fencing.

If the planning authority require a colour of palisade fencing different to the standard galvanised zinc, then that will be made a condition of planning consent. The palisade fencing will be screened by the landscape planting, the scheme of which will be agreed with the planning authority and will become a condition of any planning consent.

A landscape planting scheme will be submitted as supporting information to the planning application and agreed with the planning authority. The scheme will include native species of trees and shrubs that will provide an effective screen of the BESS with trees of an appropriate mature height for the landscape setting.

The replacement of landscaping and planting at the other BESS site (located adjacent to the Grid substation) is a responsibility for that developer and site owner. Planning Condition 1 iii) of their planning consent requires that any plants or trees which die, or become seriously damaged or diseased within a period of 10 years from the end of the first planting season, shall be removed and replaced in the next planting season with others of a similar size and species. 

We would expect a similar planning condition to be imposed on this application by the planning authority.

A noise impact assessment has been undertaken and included within the planning application submission.  Although the batteries by nature are quiet in operation, the principal noise emissions are expected to be produced from air conditioning units, inverters and transformers found on site.

The construction phase, and any operations being carried out, will be in line with best practice guidelines and any effects will be short term.

There will be no disruption to the Arbroath Path Network which will remain unaffected by the proposals. Construction traffic will access the site from the B9127.

Comments have been raised by the local community regarding the possibility of joining up the core path with the core path west of Lochaber towards Cuthlie. Criticisms were that it can’t really be called a ‘network’ because the paths don’t join up. As part of the assessment of community benefits, the applicant will engage with the Angus Council Countryside Access Officer to assess whether they or the landowner can help improve connectivity of the Core Path Network in the vicinity of the site.

A Transport Statement has been prepared and is included within the planning application submission.

During the construction phase it there will be ground clearing machinery in operation, in addition to other smaller vehicles such as vans, cars etc. It is expected that the local authority may condition planning consent with the following working hours:

• 08.00 to 18.00 on Monday to Friday inclusive; and
• 08.00 to 13.00 on Saturdays;
• no construction work taking place on a Sunday or on public holidays. 

Access to the site will be via the existing Lochaber Farm access track.  Once the site has been prepared, the batteries themselves will be delivered to site via large lorry, with a crane also required on site to lift these into position.  These larger vehicles will not be required until later in the project and then only for a short period of time. 

During ongoing operations, as monitoring of the battery facility is done electronically, additional traffic will be limited to maintenance engineers carrying out site inspections to ensure the security of the facility and any ongoing maintenance.

The site will be surrounded by high security fencing which will be regularly inspected, and there will be gaps between the vertical bar fencing to allow small mammals to cross the site.  

As highlighted previously, noise from ongoing operations will be limited to air conditioning units, transformers and inverters – the noise from these is not anticipated to cause any disruption to local wildlife.

Bats generally forage along field boundaries and there will be no disturbance to these other than the construction of a headwall into the drainage ditch for surface water discharge. The proposed landscape planting will improve biodiversity compared to that of arable farm land. 

A Preliminary Ecological Assessment has been undertaken and submitted as supporting information to the planning application submission.

The overhead transmission cables that cross the fields to the south and east of the proposed BESS will not be affected.