Published: 6 Sep 2023, 14:40
Computer generated image of a Clearstone BESS project. Image: Clearstone Energy
Clearstone Energy is seeking planning consent for a new 400MW / 800MWh Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) project in Devon.
The Junction 27 project in the South West of England is the first site in a UK BESS project pipeline of 8 large-scale projects with a combined capacity of 2.2GW for which Clearstone Energy is aiming to seek planning consent over the next 12 months.
The Junction 27 Energy Hub is on low-grade agricultural land near existing transport infrastructure on the M5 corridor in Devon. The project will “help balance electricity supply and demand across Devon and Cornwall and reduce reliance on gas-fired power stations,” according to Clearstone.
Clearstone says the project has received “broad support from the local community during a public consultation this summer before planning submission.” The project includes a major biodiversity component and “will deliver a comprehensive community value offering” including financial support for low income households to implement energy efficiency savings.
The pipeline projects have energisation dates from 2027-2032, which Clearstone says ”represents the largest near-term battery energy storage pipeline in the UK originated by an independent developer.”
Clearstone Energy secured early transmission network connections for BESS and solar projects in the UK with two 50MW BESS sites currently permitted and under construction by Foresight Group.
Clearstone Energy’s current BESS pipeline includes 8 large-scale UK projects with a combined export / import capacity of 2200MW. The company says that 3.4TWh of electricity was lost in 2022 through curtailment of wind farms in the UK, with £590 million spent on gas fired power stations to compensate.
“The UK has made tremendous progress with transitioning from fossil fuel electricity generation to large-scale wind and solar. Increasing UK battery storage capacity is critical to delivering the clean, affordable and secure UK energy system that the renewable energy transition offers,” said Ben Pratt, founder of Clearstone Energy. “The battery storage projects we’re developing represent a significant proportion of the storage capacity the UK requires to hit its target of a fully decarbonised UK electricity grid by 2035, and the bigger goal of a net zero UK by 2050.”