Indroduction
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.