Fanny House Farm Energy Storage Project

Welcome to the Fanny House Farm Energy Storage System ‘ESS’ project website. We are proposing a 940 megawatt (MW) ESS to be located on land at Fanny House Farm, Heysham.

The development site covers approximately 72 acres which includes approximately 22 acres of landscape, planting and biodiversity net gain. The site is bordered by Clay Lane and agricultural land to the north, agricultural land and an existing wind turbine to the east, the A683 and an approved ESS development to the south and Clay Lane and an existing solar farm to the west.

The proposal would support the UKs transition to Net Zero and increased use of renewable energy through supporting the availability of energy to the National Grid. Renewable energy is characterised by its intermittent generation profile. For example, solar energy is produced during daylight hours, and wind generation fluctuates between seasons and during windy/less windy periods. Energy storage developments like the one proposed at Fanny House Farm provide a solution to this, by storing electricity from the grid at times of peak generation and releasing electricity back into the grid at times of peak demand. The proposal would provide a significant amount of energy storage capacity which is needed to balance the supply and demand for energy in the UK. It also facilitates the continued deployment of renewable energy onto the electricity network.

The site has been carefully selected and designed through a detailed assessment process considering heritage, landscape, ecological and environmental designations, access, flooding, transport and agricultural land quality. We have engaged a team of expert consultants to provide advice on the project.

We submitted a planning application to Lancaster City Council in June 2023. The application details and documents can be viewed on the council website here with the reference number 23/00749/FUL. Planning permission was granted for the project on 28th November.

The site has been carefully selected and the design informed by a detailed assessment process.

We submitted a planning application to Lancaster City Council in June 2023, which was granted in November 2023.

Whilst the proposed development is located in an area of designated open countryside, the immediate area surrounding the site is characterised by telecommunications and renewable energy infrastructure. This includes a number of wind turbines (with one being located to the east of the site), a solar farm close to the western boundary, the Walney offshore windfarm substation, electricity pylons, overhead lines and a communications tower adjacent to the southern boundary of the site. Similar energy storage developments have also been approved on land directly south of the site and on land approximately 0.5km to the west of the site.

The design includes a main point of access from the A683, which will be used during the construction and operational phases. A secondary access to the north will also be constructed for emergency use only.

The development will be operational period of 50 years, needing only occasional maintenance. At the end of this period the development would be decommissioned, all equipment removed, and the land restored to its current use.

Energy Storage 

The development would primarily consist of liquid cooled batteries, the size of a shipping container.

Medium Voltage (MV) Skid 

The MV Skid is required to convert the Direct Current (DC) to Alternating Current (AC) via an inverter.

Transformers 

The purpose of these transformers is to raise and lower the voltage for export and import to the National Grid.

Substation  

The main substation contains the largest items of plant, consisting of a Gas Insulated Switchgear (GIS) hall, transformers and filters. It has a footprint of approximately two acres.

Access Tracks 

Access tracks would be established across the site. During the construction phase a construction compound would be established in the vicinity of the site access, close to the A683.

Security 

A fence would be installed around the perimeter of the development at a height of approximately two metres. The site would be monitored by inward facing CCTV cameras.

Construction access

We have undertaken an assessment to confirm that the necessary abnormal load construction vehicles can safely access and egress the site.  There will be minimal abnormal load movements to the site throughout the construction period. The identified access route for abnormal loads is proposed to be from Heysham Port, along Port Way to the A683 to the site. This route will be agreed with Lancashire County Council Highways, National Highways and Lancashire Police, who will also be informed of delivery timings once this information is available.

The Clay Lane access on the northern boundary will be used for emergency vehicles only.

Further details are provided within the submitted Transport Assessment.

Operational Traffic

Once operational the site would be visited for occasional routine maintenance. Typically, this would involve a light goods vehicle with one or two site operatives, who would access the site and carry out routine maintenance checks on the installed equipment. In the first five years post construction, there would also be regular visits by landscape contractors to monitor and manage completed landscape works like newly planted trees, during the initial establishment phase. There would also be occasional visits from our ecologists to monitor and manage new habitat creation.

Our planning application is supported by a number of technical assessments which are publicly available on the Councils website, including:

Landscape & Visual Assessment: A Landscape and Visual Impact Assessment has been submitted as part of the planning application. This is accompanied by the proposed planting as shown on the submitted Landscape Masterplan.

Agricultural Land Classification Survey: Confirming the land comprises of Lower grade agricultural land comprises land that falls in Grade 3b, 4 and 5.

Cultural Heritage and Archaeology: We have undertaken a Historic Environment Desk-Based Assessment which considers the available archaeological, historic, topographic and land-use information in order to establish the potential for any effects on heritage assets in the area, and the likelihood of encountering archaeological remains on the site. The assessment has demonstrated that the project will not physically impact designated heritage assets nor will it results in impacts to the setting of designated heritage assets. There will be no impact to known archaeological assets

Ecology: A suite of ecology reports and a Landscape Management Plan have been submitting illustrating the proposed planting and the management measures.

Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) Calculation: All of our sites deliver a minimum of 10% BNG in accordance with the Environment Act 2021. We strive to, wherever possible, exceed this statutory requirement.

Flood Risk Assessment : The site is located within Flood Zone 3, as shown by Environment Agency mapping and is noted to benefit from flood defences. The application is supported by a flood risk assessment which includes on-site drainage mitigation to ensure the proposal does not result in flooding on or off site.

Noise  Impact Assessment: The submitted report demonstrates that the proposed development will be below background noise levels.

The UK has a legally binding target to achieve Net Zero by 2050 and has committed to fully decarbonising the electricity network by 2035. This results in many low carbon and renewable developments being needed across the UK. Energy storage systems, like this proposal, are leading the way in balancing demand for electricity and providing flexibility to the supply of electricity in terms of where it can be stored on the network, and the times when it can be utilised. They are a crucial component of the delivery of net zero targets.

There will be a significant increase in demand for electricity in the coming years as more sectors (such as cars, heating, road fleet and trains) rely more extensively on electricity as a fuel source. The Future Energy Scenarios 2022 report (written by National Grid ESO) indicates that the UK will need more than 250GW of energy storage by 2050 and this proposal would add a significant amount of energy storage to this pipeline. In April 2022, Renewable UK reported that, nationwide, there was around 1.5GW of energy storage in operation, 1.5GW under construction, and 10GW that had consent, but had not yet been built. A significant increase is required in order to meet the projected requirements.

Renewable energy generation is intermittent and Energy Storage Systems help to balance this by storing electricity at times of low demand and releasing this at peak demand. Energy Storage allows us to make better use of our existing electricity supplies and for electricity generated from renewable energy sources to be fully utilised.

Our Community Promise

We believe it is important that local communities share in the benefit our project brings. For all our energy storage projects we offer a community benefit fund, which can be used to support local projects and priorities. We will work with our host communities to agree the best way to provide and administer that fund.

Every year the 940MW Fanny House Farm Energy Storage System will contribute £50 per MW of import capacity to the community benefit fund. A further £20 per MW of import capacity charitable donation annually for the entire 50-year lifetime.  The total annual payment which would be generated for this project is set out below.