Why are BESSes needed?
BESS enable excess renewable energy to be stored rather than wasted, and reduces the need for fossil fuel generation as backup. 

How much impact will it have on the world’s carbon dioxide use?
The proposed 340megawatt BESS would have an installed capacity of 680 megawatt hours.  This will chiefly act to store excess ‘green’ generation, then exporting this when there is a need for the power which significantly reduces, and offsets, the need to use gas.  This BESS is predicted to prevent the emission of between 29,000 and 45,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide each year.

What are the benefits for the local economy and local community?
This farm diversification and economic development by the landowner Will Ramsay will bring money and jobs to the area, not only in the construction phase, but also by the farm being able to afford to spend more with local trades in the future.

 You can also read on the Community Benefit page how Will Ramsay has pledged £25,000 per annum x 40 years, index linked.

 What Public Consultation has taken place?
Will Ramsay has had open communication with the community, with plans adjusted in response to the community’s feedback.

1.      Held two Public Consultations, where over 60 residents were able to give feedback.  He also instigated a meeting with Bob Hope, our Chair of Eccles, Leitholm and Birgham Community Council to continue our dialogue with the local community.

2.      Taken on board that feedback and have made some changes to the design of the project including lowering the positioning and overall height of the development, increasing the banking, planting and landscaping, and improvements to the access road.

3.      Will Ramsay has proposed a Community Benefit Fund of £25,000 per annum, which would be index linked over at least 40 years, to benefit local communities, charities and individuals.  He has approached other BESS developers locally to encourage them to also donate to a Community Fund.

What will be the impact on the environment?
We have planned to minimise impact on the environment and inhabitants due to careful Site Selection:

1.      The scheme is not close to any houses, ensuring good residential separation.  The closest house from the compound fence (enclosing the batteries) is over 250m away, and is screened by mature trees.

2.      BESS schemes are generally very quiet in operation and the project is far enough away from houses to prevent any effects on amenity.

3.      The project is well screened and low lying, and would not be visible from the closest villages of Eccles (1.5km away) and Leitholm (2.5km away).
You can read more on the Ecology and Environment page of this website. 

How much will we see?
We will lower the ground level, and create banking around the sides, in order to hide the batteries, transformers and security lights.  We will plant trees on this banking. The batteries are less than 3m high. They will be painted dark green to blend in with the trees.

How long will Construction take? How many lorries will there be?
It should take 12 to 14 months. In the busiest month the average construction traffic is less than one lorry per hour between 8am and 5pm, Monday to Friday only. 

How will traffic be affected on the side road leading to the site entrance?
We will aim to enhance the side road, with the help of passing places.

Will there be road closures?
There will most likely be a traffic light system on the A697 during cable laying from the BESS to the Eccles Substation.

What will happen at the end of the scheme?
The planning permission will only be for 40 years, and will have a stipulation for the land to be return to agricultural.  There will be a bond put in place which we will insist on, providing enough funds to do this.  In construction, the topsoil gets moved to the exterior of the site, to create banking to help to screen the batteries from view.  At the end of the 40 years, the concrete etc will be removed and the topsoil replaced, returning the land to agricultural food production.

Why was this location chosen?
The field chosen on Pittlesheugh Farm for the BESS is the closest to the substation, thus requiring least cabling and traffic disruption while the cable is laid.  Also, the site within the field is low lying, so have less impact on the landscape.  Importantly, the site is not close to any houses, being over 300m from the closest one behind trees, while the transformer has been sited over 500m from the nearest house; transformers emit a hum which can sometimes be heard up to 250metres away.

Will our countryside be overrun with BESSes?
We know about three other BESS proposals of this scale (over 50mw) connecting to the Eccles Substation, all of which are in the public domain.  Our electrical engineers have analysed the Eccles substation diagrams, and believe that there might be one further BESS of this scale (but no more) that we don’t yet know about, which would be the maximum that the Eccles Substation can take.  With this possible additional BESS included, BESSes will cover less than 1% of our Community Council area of approximately 15,000acres.

How high will the BESS be?
The batteries are all under 3m high.  A transformer can be up to 9m high; we are positioning transformers so that, with the help of the banking and screening, nothing can be seen. 

How much land will be required?
This 340mw BESS will require the compound containing the electrical equipment to cover 11 acres, which is 1% of our farmland.  Additional will be landscaping, covering around 5 acres.

What surveys are being conducted to mitigate impacts?
We are currently carrying out a range of surveys and assessments, including sound, ecological, environmental, hydrological, visual and heritage.  Our planning application will be submitted after these, and will include the reports following these surveys.

Fire Risks

Pittlesheugh Farm BESS will use Lithium Ferrous Phosphate (LiFePO4) chemistry batteries (industry standard). LiFePO4 batteries are known for their high level of safety compared to normal lithium-ion battery chemistries.  They have a lower risk of overheating and catching fire due to their more stable cathode material and lower operating temperature. There are no known fires from BESS using such batteries. They use a fraction of the Lithium and Cobalt compared to Lithium Ion batteries.

Lithium Ferrous Phosphate batteries have no environmental concerns as they do not release any type of toxic gases or chemicals. In comparison, Lithium-ion batteries which have been found to release a large number of toxic gases, especially at high temperatures. Lithium-ion batteries have a shorter life span, so you have to change them often leading to high wastes.

Lithium Ferrous Phosphate batteries have a long-life span, leading to few battery changes.

Additional safety precautions include:

• The batteries are containerised and installed with a separation distance to prevent any fire spreading.

• Each unit will include automatic fire detection, venting and suppression systems

• The battery units would be monitored around the clock by human operators at a UK control centre

• Any malfunction or thermal issue would be immediately detected, and the relevant component(s) shut down

• The control centre will monitor individual energy cells, temperatures, states of charge of the system and alarms issued should the system operate outside of normal tolerances

• Any fire within a battery unit would be tackled by the integrated fire control systems within the BESS which use an inert gas which is non-toxic

• No water would be used to quench the affected unit so there would be no runoff of contaminated water into nearby water courses

• If consented the developer will enter into a fire response plan with the local fire brigade and this could be made the subject of an appropriate planning condition

Further information about Lithium Ferrous Phosphate batteres can be found here, including comparisons with the normal Lithium-Ion batteries: https://ecotreelithium.co.uk/news/what-are-lifepo4-batteries/