Two rural battery storage schemes deprioritised

Two energy storage schemes planned for the North Yorkshire countryside have been branded "zombie" projects after their status was downgraded.

The Mowbray and Bellmoor battery energy storage systems (BESS), planned for land near East Rounton and South Kilvington respectively, no longer have set dates for connection to the national grid.

The National Energy System Operator's (NESO) downgraded the projects to "gate one" due to the number of BESS projects in the pipeline being expected to outstrip demand.

The systems store electricity from the grid at times of lower demand and release it back to the grid when it is needed most.

Schemes which are ready to proceed have been given "gate two" status by NESO, while those under "gate one" have been removed from the connection queue.

Experts say there are too many BESS projects in the pipeline with more than 200GW of storage planned, far more than the UK will need in the coming decades.

Hundreds of people have submitted objections to the planning applications for the schemes.

The Mowbray development, between Northallerton and Yarm, and the Bellmoor development near Thirsk, are both being assessed by North Yorkshire Council.

Andrew Sheldon-Thomson, from online group Stop Battery Storage – Northallerton & Yarm described the scheme as a "zombie project".

"It's alive on paper but not actually going anywhere in reality," he said, adding that no "deliverable connection solution" had been put forward.

He said the classification meant the scheme would not fulfil the requirement of being sustainable development and therefore should be refused.

South Kilvington resident Philip Martin, co-founder of Thirsk Against Battery Storage (TABS), said the update from NESO was "good news".

"We're really delighted that this project is now undeliverable in this location, but until NatPower withdraws the application we're going to continue to fight," he said.

The Local Democracy Reporting Service has contacted NatPower, the developer behind both projects, for comment.

A spokesperson previously said the company was committed to engaging with the local community in the evolution of its BESS plans.

The company says the facilities make an essential contribution to ensuring reliable, secure and affordable electricity for the country.

Listen to highlights from North Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North