Council backs plan for battery energy storage facility at site of former hotel

The application site in Crawfordjohn, Biggar, extends to some 2.6 hectares and comprises the former Red Moss Hotel.
Plans for a battery energy storage facility located at the site of a former hotel have been supported by South Lanarkshire Council, despite concern that it could be a fire hazard and open the gates for many more similar applications.
An application was made to the Scottish Government under Section 36 of the Electricity Act 1989.
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The application site in Crawfordjohn, Biggar, extends to some 2.6 hectares and comprises the former Red Moss Hotel and truck stop to the immediate south side of the B7078.
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The land is currently occupied by the buildings and ancillary parking areas associated with the former hotel, together with vacant land previously in use as a truck stop.
The site is bounded by remote moorland on all sides, with the M74 lying approximately 850m to the north of the site. It is currently accessed from a lay-by off the B7078.
A planning application submitted by Scottish Power for the erection of a 400kV/132kV electricity substation on land directly opposite the site is currently under consideration.
The operational Middle Muir Wind Farm is located approximately 2.2km to the west of the site and the operational Andershaw Wind Farm approximately 1.5km south-west.
An application has been made to the Scottish Government under Section 36 of the Electricity Act 1989 for the erection of a Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) with a storage capacity of up to 342 megawatts (MW) and associated infrastructure.
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The application has been made to the Energy Consents Unit within the Scottish Government which is responsible for the administration of the process including carrying out the necessary publicity and consultation and the decision-making process. The council are a statutory consultee in this process and not the consenting authority. The proposed development comprises the following key elements:
148 batteries within storage containers grouped into blocks of four
74 transformers (two per block of four batteries) 132kV substation
A grid transformer situated within the on-site substation; cabling and connection to the compound and cabling connecting to the proposed Redshaw Substation
Cut and fill earthworks to enable landscaping and drainage mitigation.
There will also be 2m palisade fencing erected around the site boundary to restrict access to the site, together with CCTV at regular intervals.
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The site will be accessed from the existing slipway leading on to the B7078 which is located at the northern boundary.
It is intended the BESS will connect to the proposed Redshaw substation located to the northwest of the site. The purpose of energy storage facilities is to import and store power during periods of oversupply from renewable energy. This power is exported back to the grid at periods of low renewable energy generations or high usage requirements. The installation will cover a temporary period of 35 years following which, the battery infrastructure will be decommissioned and removed from site.
Cllr Ross Lambie said: 'The site is in close proximity to existing electrical grad infrastructure and it is just a pylon that passes through the area. I am a little nervous about us setting that as a principle that you can negate concerns of the green belt being industrialised if there is a pylon nearby and they can connect on to. If we as a planning committee adopt that as principle it opens up great swathes of rural Lanarkshire to battery storage applications if they have a pylon line passing through them.'
A planning official said the site was not within the greenbelt and other applications had been refused in areas where there were considered not to be strategic employment generators.
Cllr Mary Donnelly said: 'This has come up quite a few times in my ward and it is being reported to local groups that where there are battery energy storage systems they have actually gone on fire, are we mindful that they could be a fire hazard?'
An official said this was not a planning consideration but consideration in her ward for battery energy storage systems were very different from the Red Moss one.
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It was agreed to tell the Scottish Government that there were no objections to the granting of consent for the facility. The Head of Planning and Regulatory Services was authorised to undertake any discussions with the Scottish Government Energy Consents Unit including in relation to conditions to be attached to the consent if required.
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