A green energy company has pledged to hand out up to £40m to community projects if a controversial battery energy storage system (BESS) is approved in the North Yorkshire countryside.
NatPower UK has submitted a formal planning application for a 1GW BESS on 173 acres of farmland at South Kilvington, near Thirsk.
If approved, the company says it will contribute up to £1m each year for 40 years to its community energy transition foundation, which it says invests in the areas where it has operational sites, supporting local businesses, charities and groups to develop sustainable communities.
The company says it has listened to feedback from the local community made during an initial consultation exercise and relocated a transmission substation, which is included in the plans, away from the western edge of the site, as well as reducing its size.
It claims it will also increase biodiversity net gain from the scheme by creating a publicly accessible nature recreation area over 108 acres of the site.
The area would include an outdoor education facility, as well as woodland planting and the creation of wildlife ponds, the company says.
The BESS plants store electricity from the grid at times of lower demand and release it back to the grid when it is needed most.
Announcing the submission of the planning application, John Sturman, managing director at NatPower UK, said: “We are thrilled to submit these ambitious proposals for Bellmoor Energy Storage to North Yorkshire Council.
“I’m particularly pleased that we have been able to respond to community feedback, relocating the transmission substation, reducing it in size and further decreasing the development area.
“The result is a project where more than half the site is set aside for biodiversity enhancement, including our proposed nature recreation area, with its new nature wetland areas, woods and outdoor education area creating a new community facility which will be fully accessible to the public.”
But South Kilvington resident Philip Martin, a member of the campaign group Thirsk Against Battery Storage, which was formed to fight the plans, said local residents remained opposed to the scheme.
He added: “We are yet to see the planning application but from the little information we have, there doesn’t seem to be any advances on the face of it, in fact it might even be a backward step.
“Yes, the substation has moved further away from South Kilvington but it’s been moved closer to Felixkirk and the national park.
“It’s also now on a hill which means it’s probably more visible than it ever was before.”
Mr Martin said he understood the community foundation funding was only available for a very limited range of projects around energy.
Plans for a similar facility at East Rounton, between Northallerton and York, have also been proposed, although no plans have yet been submitted.
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