Clean energy enterprise TagEnergy has been granted planning approval to create a new 100MW battery energy storage facility near Shaftesbury in Dorset, England.
Known as Shaftesbury Energy Park, the development will significantly increase the energy storage capacity of TagEnergy’s adjacent Hawkers Hill Energy Park, a facility that includes a 20MW battery energy storage scheme (BESS).
Energy Planning Limited, the specialist energy division of planning consultancy PWA Planning Group, advised TagEnergy on its successful planning application for Shaftesbury Energy Park.
An innovative approach gained great flexibility for TagEnergy, with planning permission allowing it to change the facility’s layout within a given envelope.
The Shaftesbury Energy Park development consists of 68 battery storage units and associated infrastructure. Comprehensive landscaping through hedgerow, tree and meadow grass planting will help to deliver a biodiversity net gain in excess of 30% as part of the project.
Louise Leyland, associate at Energy Planning, said: “TagEnergy is playing a key role in the global energy transition and we’re proud to have supported the company in gaining planning consent for its latest battery energy storage scheme in Shaftesbury.
“Shaftesbury Energy Park will deliver essential energy balancing services to the national grid, storing electricity at times of low demand and releasing back to the grid when demand is high. Schemes like this are central to the UK’s clean energy transition.”
Frank Woitiez, CEO of TagEnergy, said: “Shaftesbury Energy Park will significantly expand our storage capabilities – and that will greatly increase our ability to support the UK grid by enabling a more reliable and regular supply of clean power. We’re thankful to the team at Energy Planning for the planning consultancy support that helped bring this development to fruition as we continue to accelerate the energy transition.
“TagEnergy is a clean energy enterprise creating competitive clean power stations to accelerate the energy transition and help the world reach net-zero carbon emissions sooner.”
Since its formation in 2019, TagEnergy has assembled a portfolio of close to 4GW based on solar, wind and battery storage technologies in the UK, Portugal, Spain, France and Australia. Its first renewable energy project to go online, Hawkers Hill Energy Park battery storage facility in the UK, began operating in 2022.