Battery projects over 50MW are set to be administered by Local Planning Authorities to allow more rapid deployment of the technology, according to reports from the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) .
Currently proposals for Battery Storage over 50MW in England and 350MW in Wales are administered as Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects (NSIP) and require Government approval. This has led to a proliferation of 49.9MW projects to avoid the longer timescales associated with NSIP approval.
This move is welcomed by the industry and better reflects the nature of the potential impact from the proposals. Due to the large megawattage of power contained within the compact units, even large 100MW storage sites have a comparatively small footprint.
