Energising News – Spring Edition

Big news in the construction world!

Top firms—including Balfour, Kier and Ferrovial—are competing for a ground breaking £20bn project: the Spherical Tokamak for Energy Production (STEP) facility.

Unlike traditional nuclear fission, nuclear fusion offers immense potential as a low-carbon energy source. Recent breakthroughs are bringing us closer to harnessing this game changing technology—without the risk of highly radioactive by-products. If successful, the STEP facility could pave the way for infinite clean energy.

Development may no longer be deemed “inappropriate”.

Check whether your site benefits from the new ‘Grey Belt’ definition. Development may no longer be deemed “inappropriate”.

• Has the land previously been developed?
• Does the land strongly contribute to the purposes of Green Belt (unrestricted sprawl, merging of towns, historic towns)?
• Does the authority have a 5 year supply of housing land?
• Is the site in a sustainable location?
• Do proposals satisfy the new ‘Golden Rules’?

Get in touch with BTS planning advisors – we can assess your site’s potential against the new National Planning Policy Framework.

Plans for a new battery energy storage facility in Great Barr, Walsall will proceed after Walsall Metropolitan Borough Council’s initial refusal was overturned by a Planning Inspector.

A 49.35 MW battery storage facility in Great Barr, Walsall, will proceed after a Planning Inspector overturned the council’s refusal. Walsall Metropolitan Borough Council had rejected the plan over concerns about its impact on green belt land, local character, heritage assets, and residents’ living conditions.

Inspector SRG Baird ruled the site qualified as ‘Grey Belt,’ deeming it to be low-quality green belt. While acknowledging that there would be some adverse effects, he concluded that the project’s climate and energy security benefits outweighed the harm. The facility will operate for 40 years.

Europe’s largest ever battery storage facility has commenced operating in Northern Scotland, The Times reported.

The site’s location, midway between Inverness and Aberdeen, was carefully selected because it’s an area where huge amounts of wind power are fed into the National Grid from offshore wind farms. It’s already capable of storing enough power to deliver 200 megawatts of electricity for two hours and is due to be expanded next year, by which time it will be capable of supplying enough power for every household in Scotland.

Zenobe’s plans for Scotland don’t end there. Another 300 megawatt battery project is in the pipeline in Kilmarnock and a 400 mega watt site is planned at Eccles in the Scottish borders.

Government claims new Planning and Infrastructure Bill will introduce ‘seismic reforms’.

The overall aim is to speed up planning decisions on housing schemes, remove obstacles in terms of delivering infrastructure, and push clean energy projects to the front of the queue.

Proposals include:

• Ensuring that planning committees are less unwieldy, with fewer members, to facilitate “good debate”, and that committee members are required to undertake training.
• Giving local authorities the power to set their own planning fees to help cover their costs and reinvest the money back into the system.
• Establishment of a Nature Restoration Fund.
• Reform of the compulsory purchase process; and
• Up to £2,500 off electricity bills for people living within 500 metres of new pylons across the UK.