Balance Power is developing a proposal for a battery energy storage system (BESS) and associated infrastructure on land at Moor Hall Farm.

Welcome to our website. This will provide local residents and stakeholders with information regarding the new planning application for a battery storage facility on land at Moor Hall Farm. We are keen to ensure that local residents and stakeholders are given the opportunity to express support for this energy project. We hope this provides you all the information you need. However, if you require further detail, please do contact our communications consultant CalComms, either through the feedback form or by getting in touch with the team by emailing us here. Additionally, you can call on 0203 813 5559.

The Application Site is situated within Moor Hall Farm, Ninfield, TN33 9JT. The Site is located within jurisdiction of Wealden District Council and is located circa 850m southwest of Ninfield and circa 6.4km southwest of the town of Battle. The Site is within a well-contained parcel, bound by mature woodland to the north and a dense tree belt to the west.

The Application Site lies within a well screened parcel in the south eastern corner of the wider Moor Hall Farm land ownership. Access to the site forms the existing access gate from the B2095, Hooe Road, which currently provides regular access for agricultural vehicles. A series of overhead powerlines and pylons intersect the site.

As part of this community consultation website, we are showing two indicative layout plans, A and B. It is anticipated that the BESS will be connecting into one of the two electricity pylons situated within the Moor Hall Farm landholding. The difference in layout is subject to the respective electricity pylon. We are therefore presenting two layouts until final details are confirmed by UK Power Networks (UKPN).

Balance Power are a leading independent developer of clean energy projects within the UK. One of our objectives is to work closely with local authorities to help them meet their renewable energy objectives and contribute towards the UK’s net zero ambitions by 2050. We are immensely proud of our experience in providing communities with a carbon free future.

Balance Power has considerable expertise in the development and delivery of energy projects and local distribution network infrastructure requirements. Thus far we have been engaged in over 30 specific energy projects nationwide and our ambitions are to deliver over 1.5GW of new clean and stored energy within the next few years.

Battery storage is an increasingly vital tool to help the UK combat many environmental, geo-political, and economic challenges we presently face. The proposed development will use proven technology to determine when to release the stored energy into the Grid. This would typically be at peak times, and when the natural environmental conditions reduce generation by wind, tidal and solar energy.

Battery storage also further reduces the UK’s reliance on foreign imported energy to meet any peak demand, such as that from potentially hostile states. This allows the UK to minimise its exposure to potentially less reliable overseas supplies. Crucially, by fully integrating battery storage into the network the National Grid estimates that a potential cost saving of over £40 billion could be made in the medium to long term. This will be an important contribution to delivering lower fuel and domestic energy bills.

Find out more from our frequently asked questions page about battery energy storage systems:

frequently asked questions

In addition, our plans help in the following ways:

• Improving air quality by reducing the reliance on fossil fuel facilities to generate electricity.
• Providing a secure energy supply to the local network during times when renewable energy sources are inconsistent (sun not shining or wind not blowing).

Learn more using the links below:

National Grid - What is Battery Storage?

Grid Scale Battery Storage FAQs

Transitioning to a Net Zero energy system

Energy security bill factsheets defining electricity storage

Land at Moor Hall Farm, a circa 8 hectare site in Ninfield, has been identified by Balance Power as an ideal location to deliver this project given its proximity to the point of connection (overhead 132kV powerline circuit) and location away from sensitive residential properties. We are proposing to develop a new battery storage facility, along with a landscaping scheme, suitable access, and drainage.

The site, when completed, will feed stored electricity into the local distribution network at peak and other determined times.

Our proposal for the site includes several key features:

• Space for landscape planting to increase biodiversity net gain
• Two drainage attenuation basins to prevent flooding
• A widened entrance to accommodate HGV vehicles and avoid disruption to the B2095
• A 3.5m acoustic fence around the battery and inverter units to provide extra noise mitigation, ensuring the noise from the storage facility doesn’t exceed the existing background sound level in the area.

Battery storage sites are becoming increasingly important in the fight against climate change, and also in delivering better energy security, and contributing towards keeping domestic energy bills down. By delivering this storage facility in Wealden we are helping the Council meet its own carbon emission reduction targets of achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 as per their climate emergency declaration on 24 July 2019.

Under Wealden’s climate emergency declaration, a Climate Emergency Plan has been published setting out key actions and intervention measures required to meet the net-zero target. Within their plan, there is specific reference to battery storage:

“Increase uptake of Low and Zero Carbon (LZC) technologies and battery storage within the Council’s own stock. This will reduce reliance on fossil fuels and pressure on utility infrastructure, improve security of supply, and mitigate against price fluctuations.”

Wealdon District Council Climate Emergency Plan

The image below contains a view of the proposed location.

What Three Words: channel.order.plod

View the location on Google Maps below.