Plans for mega battery plant on Kent farmland near tiny hamlet launched

Plans for a sprawling battery storage plant to be built near a small Kent hamlet have officially been launched. Sky UK Development has lodged proposals with Canterbury City Council (CCC) for a 227.5 Megawatt (MW) battery energy storage system (BESS) at Woodlands Farm, half a kilometre from Calcott, near Sturry.

The scheme first surfaced earlier this year, when the London-based firm requested an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) scoping opinion. The city council ruled in late February the EIA – a means to formally explore the impact a project will have on a nearby area – would not be needed. It came after Sky UK successfully argued the facility was "temporary and reversible" and would be removed after 30 years.



As such, the firm was free to submit a full planning application for the site off Herne Bay Road in March this year. In official papers, Sky UK state the facility will include 108 shipping containers designed to hold batteries, 54 transformers, two substation buildings, eight 25,000 litre water tanks, CCTV, fencing and access roads. "The purpose of the proposed BESS is to provide a means of storing electricity at times of low demand / high generation and then be exporting it back into the grid at times of higher demand," the developer says.

Bosses argue the plot, which is currently agricultural, is ideal for such a use because it is close to an "available and viable point of grid connection" and located in an area already with some existing industrial elements. The project will require a long underground cable to connect to the grid at the Canterbury North substation about 4km south. Nearby is the Woodlands Farm solar development off Sturry Hill, which began generating power in 2015 and has a capacity of 10MW.

Cllr Harry McKenzie (Lab), who represents Sturry on CCC, said: "This is exactly the kind of infrastructure that we need to build to help tackle the climate crisis and grow the economy. The question is whether it is proposed in the right place. "It is welcome that the application is set away from residential areas and the main roads, as this would minimise the impact on residents.

"It is also good that the battery facility is proposed next to existing renewable energy infrastructure to make efficient use of existing grid connections. That said, I am keen to ensure that the local environment and residents face the smallest impact possible throughout this process. "I will not pre-judge the outcome of this application and will be carefully reviewing and considering this application over the coming weeks and months, as well as communicating with residents and the Sturry Parish Council.

" It is not yet known when CCC's planning committee will decide on the application, but a deadline of June 9 has been set..