Plans to create a battery energy storage scheme (BESS) on a remote rural site in Barnsley, South Yorkshire have been approved.
Featuring 16 high efficiency battery energy storage units and eight transformer units, the scheme will be built on land off Tofts Lane, Hunshelf, next to an existing electricity substation.
Our Energy Planning team helped secure planning consent for the development on behalf of longstanding client Harmony Energy.
The site, which equates to roughly half a hectare, lies around 1km from the town of Stocksbridge north of Sheffield and south of Barnsley. The scheme was approved by Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council’s planning department in November 2023.
Graeme Thorpe, associate at PWA Planning, comments: “This scheme will provide vital grid balancing services, building further capacity and resilience within the UK’s energy infrastructure. We’re proud to have worked with Harmony Energy on another critical BESS scheme that will support the journey towards UK net zero.”
Graeme added: “In this instance we were able to show the clear benefits of the scheme and how any visual impacts would be minimised. We also showed the special circumstances that exist in the planning system for developments like this that support clean energy generation.”
Founded more than a decade ago, Harmony Energy specialise in developing and operating wind, solar and utility-scale battery energy storage projects.
The company has a strong track record of delivering projects with nearly 500MWs of BESS operating in the UK, Harmony works closely with landowners and stakeholders from the outset to ensure financial and environmental benefits are maximised.
