Company asks for Environmental Impact Assessment by Horsham District Council on plans to build a battery energy storage system east of Cowfold

Enso Energy has contacted the council asking for an Environmental Impact Assessment screening opinion on the proposals for three hectares of land west of Kent Street.

Screening is a procedure used to determine whether a proposed project is likely to have a significant impact on the environment.

It will ensure that the council knows the likely consequences before it makes its decision to allow or refuse the project.

Battery energy storage systems (BESS) enable energy from renewables such as solar and wind to be stored and then released when the power is needed most.

If the Cowfold system is approved, it will be connected to the National Grid at Bolney using around 1km of underground cable.

It a letter to the council, Enso Energy said construction would take six months and the BESS would be in place for 40 years.

A new access point would be built onto Kent Street as the current one leading into the field would be ‘unsuitable’.

To view the application, log on to public-access.horsham.gov.uk and search for EIA/23/0006.