Highland Council gives Lord Lovat planning permission for Balblair Quarry battery energy storage system despite locals speaking out against the ‘cumulative impact’ of the plan

Highland Council has granted Lord Lovat planning permission to build a battery energy storage system (BESS) near Balblair Quarry despite strong objections from locals in the area.

The move came after he had strongly objected to another such scheme, which, like this one, was also met by a storm of protest from locals over what is felt to be the over-development of renewable energy in the area.

Previously, he was against a battery energy storage system at Caulternich Farm suggesting instead a “relocation of a project such as this to the vastly more appropriate brownfield land within Balblair Quarry.”

Now his own plans for a BESS near Balblair Quarry have been given the go-ahead but are subject to conditions aimed at protecting locals from what they see as some of the most potentially negative aspects of the scheme.

They include base level monitoring and continuous monitoring of noise, a second condition to secure secondary access to the site and to amend a policy amended so that it states 26 decibels rather than 27 decibels.

Many of the objections present in the objections to the Caulternich Farm project were also cited here of impact on the environment, over-development, of an industrial nature in a primarily rural area.

The proposal

The plan is from LG-B-50A Ltd, a company incorporated in April 2023 and which has Simon, Lord Lovat as the only officer.

It calls for the creation and operation of battery energy storage system (BESS) up to 49.9MW, substations, switchgear and control buildings, landscaping, fencing and ancillary infrastructure.

It calls for 64 battery units; 16 inverter units each served by four battery storage units; new site tracks; underground electricity cables; and temporary construction and storage compounds.

But the “specific BESS model has not yet been selected” so the current design has been “based on the assumption” that each battery unit will be contained within a 6m x 2.4m container.

The site is within a restored area of the Balblair operational quarry about 200 metres southeast of the SSEN site at Beauly and around 465 metres to the south of Wester Balblair and covers an area of approximately just under one hectare.

The objections

Of the 27 public comments made on the council’s public portal none were in favour, 26 were objections and most of those in the strongest terms along with a formal objection from Kilmorack Community Council.

It argued that the proposal is not in accordance with the development plan because of the “scheme specific and cumulative adverse effects and risks not being outweighed by the asserted benefits of the scheme”.

“Difficult to visualise the complexity and variety of cumulative effects arising from a range of renewable energy projects comprising existing, consented, and proposed elements.

“This cumulative aspect of a considerable number of renewable energy related projects coming forward in a short time frame is a very major concern to the Community Council”.

Do you want to respond to this article? If so, click here to submit your thoughts and they may be published in print.