Decision on battery site delayed

Traffic chaos fears over plans for cable route through village

- Phil Corrigan

COUNCILLORS fear a proposed battery storage site could cause traffic chaos in a nearby village.

The plans for the battery energy storage system (BESS) at Tean Leys Farm in the Staffordshire Moorlands include a cable connection to an electricity substation in Upper Tean.

Residents raised concerns that works to install the cable through the middle of Upper Tean would cause major disruption to road users and local businesses.

Planning committee members at Staffordshire Moorlands District Council have now voted to defer the application so more information on the cable route can be provided.

Applicant Tean Leys Energy Storage wants to build a 70MW BESS, which support the transition to renewable energy by allowing surplus electricity to be stored.

It would consist of 112 battery containers and other structures, with cable connections to the existing substation on Cheadle Road, Upper Tean, and a new substation planned as part of a large solar farm development on the other side of the A50.