Battery energy storage system planned for five-acre site near Spittal
Community consultation events are being planned for Thurso and Halkirk early next month to outline plans for a battery energy storage facility near Spittal.
The proposed Achies Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) will occupy around five acres of land north-west of the existing SSEN Spittal converter station, to which it will connect.
The company behind the scheme is Sun4Net, a London-based developer of solar PV and battery projects. It says: “As renewables such as solar and wind are erratic in their supply of power, the BESS will help to balance the supply and demand of electricity in the grid.”
If the project goes ahead, it will have a grid export capacity of 162 megawatts.
Pre-application consultation events are scheduled for Thurso Library on Tuesday, March 4, and the Ross Institute in Halkirk on Wednesday, March 5 (from 2.30pm to 7.30pm in each case).
Sun4Net director Peter Keep said: “We are keen for as many local people as possible to join us at our public consultation events and provide us with their feedback on our proposals.”
The project was previously referred to as Balbeg BESS but the name was amended following “local feedback” at the end of last week. A statement on the newly created website www.achiesenergystorage.com makes it clear that “the newly named Achies BESS is in no way connected to Balbeg Farm”.
The name change took effect after leaflets had been provided to Royal Mail for distribution to Caithness households. These leaflets still feature the Balbeg name.
Sun4Net says that all future material, including a public notice in this week’s Caithness Courier, will refer to Achies BESS.
Onshore developments above 50MW are determined by the Scottish Government under Section 36 of the Electricity Act. Sun4Net says it intends to submit an application to the Energy Consents Unit in May.
At an extraordinary general meeting of Halkirk District Community Council last week, concerns were raised about a “tsunami” of energy developments in the area around Halkirk and Spittal.