How battery farms and solar farms could reshape our countryside

“This project will be pivotal for balancing out the supply and demand of renewable energy as the UK transitions to net zero and these sources become an ever-growing segment of our national energy mix," he says.

The site, a six-and-a-half acre field next to a pub in a semi-rural idyll six miles out of the centre of Dudley, will soon be home to the Hinksford Bess, an electricity storage site that will provide power to almost 27,000 homes. 

Sites like the Bess, or battery energy storage system to give it its full title, are going to be an increasingly common sight in years to come. Indeed, during the past two years, South Staffordshire Council has received no fewer than 10 planning applications relating to battery storage sites, Shropshire Council has received eight in the past three years.

Only this week another such scheme was approved in Wombourne, little more than a mile from the Hinksford site. And earlier this month, the Planning Inspectorate overturned Dudley Council's decision to refuse permission for a 12.5-acre battery farm in the village of Illey, near Halesowen - about a mile from another scheme which had already been given permission. 

Essentially large pounds filled with giant batteries, it is these sites which will make renewable energy a viable reality - storing solar and wind power from when the sun shines and the wind blows, to be used on the all-too-frequent days when neither happens.

The Bess's operator, Balance Power, says that by boosting the use of renewable energy, it will reduce carbon emissions by 20,000 tons a year, equivalent to taking 13,200 cars off the road, or planting 29,200 trees. This is presumably what Ed Miliband has in mind when he talks about Britain becoming a 'green energy superpower'.

Mr Levy, planning manager at Balance Power, says: "This project will play a critical role in stabilising the grid and helping to power approximately 26,800 homes, by storing renewable energy during peak generation and supplying it back to the grid when demand is high. This is vital as the UK moves toward net zero, with renewable energy becoming more significant in the national energy mix."

Gordon Fanthom is not convinced. The parish councillor, can see the site from his back garden, cites a devastating fire at the world's biggest Bess, the Vistra Energy site in Moss Landing, California. The disaster led to the evacuation of 1,500 residents, and filled the air with toxic gases. 

"This highlights the 'unique challenges posed by lithium-ion battery fires," he warns.

"The poisonous smoke will rise and blow across towards my house .If the wind blows in the other direction the poisonous Gases will blow towards Hinksford Mobile Home Park  which has around 130 homes but only one entrance in and out to evacuate residents."

He points out that the nearest fire station, in Wombourne, has only one tender.

"A Bess fire will burn for many days due to the lithium in the batteries," he says. "It will place residents in a state of constant fear of fire." 

He is not the only resident to express concerns. The plans attracted 36 objections from members of the public - as well as Swindon Parish Council - with other concerns including the impact on green belt land, noise, traffic and the ecological impact.

Mr Levy insists that the measures put in place by the company will actually improve ecological diversity, with promising a 155 per cent increase in habitat units and protection of existing wildlife. He says the company listened carefully to the community and sought to address all concerns. No objection was made by the fire service, and Mr Levy says the scheme will create local construction and operation jobs, as well as bolstering future energy security.

The site is expected to be operational by autumn next year, and the development will doubtless be monitored closely by the residents of Lower Penn, just outside Wolverhampton, where South Staffordshire Council is to consider two separate applications for battery farms from Elgin Energy Ltd and Renewable Power Capital on land at The Roughs in Dimmingsdale and in Market Lane. In February, more than 100 people packed a public meeting at the village's Victory Hall, and a show of hands found no-one in support.

In Shropshire, approval was given last year for a 24-battery farm on land in Steventon Road, south of Ludlow. More controversially, Shropshire Council gave approval to a battery farm in the flood plain at Minsterley, near Shrewsbury, which was granted permission at the third attempt. It was Fig Power's fourth scheme to be approved in the county.

Of course it is not just battery storage sites which are causing angst in rural areas as the move towards renewable energy gains momentum. Fifteen miles up the road from Hinksford, in the parish of Brewood and Coven, between Wolverhampton and Stafford, concerns have been expressed about a proliferation of solar farms, with approval being given for a 143-acre site off Lawn Lane in Coven, and a 77-acre scheme at Deepmore in nearby Four Ashes. Between them, the two schemes will produce enough electricity to power 21,000 homes, so it is perhaps no great surprise that some in a community of just over 3,300 properties will feel they are doing more than their fair share in the drive towards net zero.

Jez McHale of Anesco, the company behind the Lawn Lane scheme, says: “There is an urgent and critical need for renewable energy developments.

“We recognise there will be concerns for our neighbours.

"However the scheme has been designed to protect amenity of neighbours, including a significant non-development buffer distance from panels to the nearest properties.”

With the agricultural sector feeling the pinch, particularly since the changes to Inheritance Tax in the Budget, it is inevitable that farmers will look at ways to diversify their portfolio. And battery farms provide a guaranteed stable income, that do not depend on the whims of the weather.

In his decision to allow the battery farm at Illey, near Halesowen, planning inspector Gareth Thomas  conceded that the scheme would have a detrimental impact on the landscape, and would not normally comply with planning policy. But he warned that in order to meet government net zero targets, significant impact on the green belt was inevitable.

"It would be remiss to not highlight the direction of travel in terms of government energy policy at the outset of my decision," he wrote.

"The basis of the policy is about facing up to climate change and promoting sustainable development through, amongst other things, the use of renewable and low carbon energy technologies.

"The basis of the policy is about facing up to climate change and promoting sustainable development through, amongst other things, the use of renewable and low carbon energy technologies." He said this might sometimes meet granting approval to schemes which did not comply with existing planning policy.

In other words, prepare for a few more controversies as the drive to net zero gathers pace.