As more of our energy is generated from renewable sources, battery storage, sometimes referred to as Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) are becoming an increasingly important part of the electricity network.
Demand for electricity can vary dramatically across the day. For example, there is usually a peak in demand in the morning and a second, higher, peak in the evening. Using fossil fuels, it was possible to adjust the amount of power being generated to match the amount required. That is much harder with renewable energy sources. Wind turbines only generate power when the wind blows, solar farms when there is enough sunlight – and that might not match the pattern of demand. Which is where battery storage comes in.
When the amount of power being generated exceeds demand, battery storage systems charge up and store the energy. When that situation reverses, and demand exceeds supply, the batteries release power back into the grid. They therefore smooth out the peaks and troughs in power generation and help match it to demand.
The batteries are housed in units that look like a shipping container that’s about 12m long, and are usually painted green. Each unit contains about 2MW of batteries, although that’s changing all the time as batteries become more efficient.
The number that can fit on a piece of land depends on a whole variety of site-specific factors, like topography and the shape of the site. The battery units need to be spaced little apart to allow for servicing and to provide air-flow for the cooling fans. Typically, though, you might expect something like 10 to 15 units per acre.
Although the batteries themselves are quiet, the cooling fan that each units needs can generate some noise – normally around 65dBA at a distance of 5 metres. To put that in context, it’s about the level of a normal conversation. As you move further away, the noise level obviously falls. It can be possible to reduce the noise impact of nearby properties using features such as acoustic fences if required, but most schemes are located away from existing homes so that this isn’t needed.
Sites can be quite small, usually starting at around 1 acre, and can reach up to 5 acres or more. The best sites are relatively flat, at least 100m away from the nearest homes and are well screened – although landscape planting can be added as part of the project. Often that means a small field in the countryside, but bits of unused land within industrial areas can work well too.
Road access is crucial – both for installing the scheme and accessing it for maintenance purposes thereafter. Sites shouldn’t be at risk of flooding either – after all, water and electricity don’t mix! Often, schemes are located close to existing electricity substations, but that doesn’t always need to be case.
Most important of all, though, is making sure the local electricity network has sufficient capacity to receive the power released by the batteries, and that the cost of connecting to the grid isn’t too high. Unfortunately, this information isn’t readily available, but our technical team can try to estimate the position for you. For a definitive answer, you would need to have formal discussions with the local network operator.
Operators enter into a lease with the landowner, typically for a 30 to 40 year period. Landowners receive an index-linked rental payment, with the operator also being responsible for removing the batteries and re-instating the site at the end of the lease.
The amount of rent paid varies depending on how many units the site can accommodate and the cost of connecting them to the grid – answers you can only get from the local network operator. However, rent is usually at least £10,000 per acre per annum and can be significantly more if connection costs are low.
This is where The Strategic Land Group can help. We can review your site to consider its potential, and speak to the network operator on your behalf to determine the local grid’s capacity and the cost of connecting to it.
Once we have that information, we would propose terms to lease your land, including the initial rental figure and details of the index-linking. We will do all of that free of charge and with no obligation – you only need to decide whether to work with us once you have seen the proposed lease terms.
If you were happy with the proposed terms, we would enter into a legal agreement with you before working to secure both planning permission and the necessary technical approvals for connecting to the grid. With those approvals in place, we would identify a suitable operator for the site who would build and run the scheme, as well as making the rental payments to you. Again, this would all be at our cost and risk – if we didn’t succeed, it wouldn’t cost you anything.
With the operator in place there is nothing more for you to do – other than decide what to do with the rental payments, of course!
If you want to discuss how this could work for you in more detail, or think your site could be suitable for a battery storage scheme, get in touch.
