Plans for a massive battery site that will be used to store energy created by wind and solar farms has been given the green light.
A facility covering 8.6 acres of land – roughly four football pitches – will be built just off the A140, on Hickling Lane in Swainsthorpe.
The scheme, which has been approved by South Norfolk Council (SNC), is one of a number of green energy projects in the area, with other battery and solar plans being built.
All the projects sit close to the nearby substation on Ipswich Road.
The latest scheme, submitted by French energy giant, EDF Energy, will house 176 "battery cubes" which will be able to store 114 MW of energy produced by wind and solar farms at times of low demand, so that it can be fed into the National Grid at times of higher demand.
At an SNC planning meeting on Wednesday, Jennifer Gordon, a speaker on behalf of the applicant, said the UK was increasingly relying on intermittent forms of energy generation, such as wind and solar, and batteries are needed to help balance the grid when that power is not available.
READ MORE: Huge Norfolk wind farm project on hold
She said there has been careful consideration for heritage, drainage, visual impact and ecology issues and they have engaged with Norfolk Fire and Rescue Service to come up with a strategy in the event of a fire.
While there were no objecting speakers at the meeting, Ms Gordon acknowledged that there had been concerns about the traffic generated by the site, and promised EDF would work with the council and highways authority to minimise any disruption.
The scheme was unanimously approved by councillors subject to the submission of a fire strategy and construction management plan.
Conservative councillor Lisa Neal said: “We are all aware that we need to create more electricity and we need to have the battery storage. This, in my opinion, is meeting that.”
Speaking after the meeting Andrew Elliott, project manager for the project at EDF Renewables UK said they were delighted to get approval.
He said: “Having more of our electricity generated renewably from homegrown sources will lead to lower bills and greater energy security.”
What other energy projects are planned for the area?
There are a series of green energy projects planned to link up to the National Grid substation off Ipswich Road.
Bloy's Grove, a 200-acre solar scheme that would generate enough energy to power 14,000 homes was approved last year, for off Brick Kiln Lane, between Mulbarton, Newton Flotman and Swainsthorpe.
Two other battery schemes were also approved for the area last year, one on land north of Stoke Lane in Dunston and the other off Mangreen Hall Lane, Dunston.
A previous battery project, next to the substation, was approved in 2018.
While the battery schemes look to be going ahead, Swedish energy giant Vattenfall’s Boreas wind farm, which was planned for off the Norfolk coast, was recently put on hold.
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