PLANS to set up a battery energy storage system at a farm near Saltcoats have been given the green light by councillors.

Members of North Ayrshire Council's planning committee gave their backing to proposals from Yorkshire firm GPC 1127 to run a 30 megawatt battery energy storage system at Meiklelaught Farm.

The  site measures 0.86 hectares and comprises a portion of a field to the north of Saltcoats.

It is in the north-east corner of an open grass field, the boundaries of which are marked by low hedgerows. The countryside around the site is hilly and used mainly for the grazing of livestock.

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Also included within the site boundary is the dirt access track which runs through the adjacent field to the east and connects with the B714 via a field gate and small bellmouth junction.

Rob Crolla of AAH Planning, representing the applicant, said: “There is a clear need for this development as the UK is legally bound through the climate change act to cut greenhouse gas emissions and committed to reach net zero emissions by the second half of the 21st century.

“Battery energy storage provides a means of importing electricity from the grid to be imported and stored at times of low demand.”

No objections were lodged with one neutral letter of representation being the only comment from a member of the public in relation to the plans.

The developer's plans feature 12 storage containers, 12 inverters and six transformers, as well as a sub-stattion and control room and a distristribution network operator sub-station, plus an auxiliary transformer.

The storage containers will each be 2.6 metres high, with a footprint of around 30 square metres, while the transformers will be slightly taller, at 2.7m, and the inverters slightly smaller (2.3m).

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Under the plans, underground cables will connect the facility to the national grid at the Sorbie Road substation.

Access will be via a new track 25 metres south of an existing field gate, while the development will also feature three parking spaces and several CCTV cameras.

At the planning committee's meeting on Wednesday, November 22, Councillor Davina McTiernan proposed that site owners would give details of ongoing maintenance, including planting would be in place for as long as the storage containers remained there.

This was agreed by the committee and the application was approved subject to a series of conditions.