RENEWABLE energy storage specialist Apatura has secured planning permission for a major new battery energy storage system (BESS) near Port Glasgow.
The facility at Auchentiber Road was approved by the Energy Consents Unit and will have a capacity of 700 megawatts (MW), the largest for a standalone BESS in Scotland to date.
It will be made up of 280 shipping-style storage containers plus fencing, security cameras, lighting and landscaping. Planting of new native species trees will take place to improve biodiversity.
The site, 2.1km south of Port Glasgow, will be connected to the national electricity grid by underground cable to the Devol Moor Substation 1.1km northwest of the site.
Andrew Philpott, chief development officer at Apatura, said: “We are delighted that Scottish Ministers have supported this critically important scheme and the local council -– Inverclyde -– lodged no objections.”
A BESS is an advanced technology system designed to store electrical energy generated from sources such as wind and solar during periods of high generation and low demand which can then be exported back into the grid network during periods of high demand.
