To assist the UK and Scottish government’s goal of decarbonizing the electricity grid, Battery storage facilities (BSF) or Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) facilities are being developed across the UK. They play a crucial role in supporting the transition to renewable energy by storing electricity from sources like wind and solar power when there is excess supply and releasing it during periods of high demand. The batteries are housed and delivered in shipping containers and require associated infrastructure to be developed to connect to the local grid.
Each new development requires planning permission with a series of surveys and environmental assessments. The sites are located on a mixture of brownfield and greenfield sites where they could be legacy and on going contamination, mining, geotechnical, flooding and drainage issues. The aim of the studies and investigations are to confirm the associated risks prior to development of the proposed BESS to highlight any liabilities.
MHB have provided a range of services to developers and planners to assist the planning process including Phase 1 – Preliminary Risk Assessments (PRA) for contaminated land, Phase 2 – site and ground investigations, Flood Risk Assessments (FRA), drainage and earthworks strategies, Surface Water Management Plans (SWMP), Coal Mining Risk Assessments (CMRA), Construction Environmental Management Plans (CEMP), Peat Management Plan (PMP) and topographical surveys.
