Battery Power Storage Facility
Dorking, Surrey
Whilst not strictly a renewable energy project, Battery Energy Storage Facilities are used to store electricity to support the ‘time shifting’ of generated electricity into periods of high demand. They form an increasingly important part of our overall energy generation and supply network and help stabilise the national electricity system by compensating for the fast changes of energy output from renewable sources.
We were approached by Alder King to prepare a Flood Risk Assessment to support a planning application for a new Battery Energy Storage Facility to be built near Dorking, Surrey.
After a long selection process focusing on potential sites near enough to existing large-scale substations with capacity to connect into the grid, a site was identified near Dorking. However the site was in the medium risk flood zone 2, and therefore was at risk of flooding in a 1 in 1000 year fluvial flood. Working closely with the developer, Grid Battery Storage Ltd (GBSL) we identified suitable mitigation measures which effectively lifted the switchgear, transformer and battery power conversion units above the flood level. We prepared a site specific FRA which was submitted to support the planning application.
The scheme, which is thought to be one of the first battery energy strorage facilities in the UK, was granted planning permission in October 2016.