Furious villagers slam plans to build power plant out of 900 shipping containers

04 February 2024 , 21:41

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Statera Energy's proposed battery storage system (BESS) in Buckinghamshire has been criticised by locals (Image: Facebook/Claydons Solar Action Group)

Outraged locals have slammed new plans to build a power plant made out of hundreds of shipping containers next to an idyllic village.

Campaigners have described the potential impact of Statera Energy's proposed battery storage system (BESS) near a planned solar farm as "devastating" - claiming it would ruin both the environment and the mental health of local residents. More than 200 people have objected to the firm's proposals to construct the 33-hectare site on fields at Rookery Farm, between the leafy Buckinghamshire villages of Granborough and East Claydon.

The development will involve stripping the topsoil and erecting 888 full-sized shipping containers to house the batteries, while a 2.5-metre high steel mesh fence will also be put up around them for security.

The energy firm is also seeking to build 37 inverter houses, three storage containers, seven control rooms, four fire water storage tanks, a large customer substation and a welfare unit at the site. Construction works are expected to take around 18 months - and locals are less than enthused by the possibility of 30 HGVs per day driving past their homes.

But in a planning objection, local resident Susan Tymms said the development would "undoubtedly affect the mental health of the community, who are already in despair at the mismanagement of these other projects". She added: "The cumulative effect could be devastating."

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The proposed development will include 888 full-sized shipping containers to house batteries (Buckinghamshire council)

The batteries, which will be contained in the shipping containers, will allow electricity from the grid to be imported and stored during times of low demand or high generation. Statera hopes it will be operational for up to 40 years, and the company intends to have it connected to the National Grid by 2027.

The firm argue that such developments are “crucial” to the UK meeting its net zero targets - but a local campaign group claims there is not enough evidence to justify replace local farmland with the huge site. Claydons Solar Action Group, who have led opposition in the area, said they believe the construction will cause "damage and disruption" to local roads, and that "views from houses and footpaths will be destroyed and never recover".

Local Conservative MP Greg Smith has backed local objections to the plans (Facebook/Claydons Solar Action Group)

The loss of open fields in the area will also "cause a permanent adverse impact on ecology and a loss of natural habitats", the campaigners have said, while potential noise pollution from cooling fans will add to the disruption already expected to come from the solar farm.

Local Conservative MP Greg Smith has backed local objections to the plans and those for the solar farm, and recently told the MailOnline: "I am sick and tired of agricultural land being taken from Buckinghamshire for development, be that solar, battery storage or more traditional development." The nearby Rosefield Solar Farm is a completely separate proposal, and is not related to the Statera battery storage project.

Benedict Tetzlaff-Deas