Proposals to develop a battery energy storage system for 60 batteries and 30 transformers on undeveloped green belt agricultural land at a Halifax farm have been submitted to planners.

Sandbrook Capital BES Ltd has applied to Calderdale Council seeking permission to develop the plant at land off Ashday Lane in Southowram.

If planners agree, 60 3.5 metre maximum height battery units, 30 transformers of similar height, a substation, two auxiliary transformers, a control room with welfare facilities and storage will all be housed in a compound.

Two new site accesses are proposed. The primary access is located at the north east corner – connecting from Ashday Lane – whilst the secondary access is directly opposite the north west corner of the site – connecting to Binns Top Lane – say supporting statements submitted with the application.

The proposed battery energy storage system works by taking electricity from the national grid at times of low demand, storing it in batteries and releasing it back to the grid when demand is high, according reports by consultants Energy Planning.

This improves the efficiency of existing energy production facilities, notably renewables where production is intermittent and based on external conditions, it says.

Although the system is not a renewable energy producer, it will help stabilise the grid and significantly reduce energy losses particularly relating to the intermittent production of renewable energy, helping meet climate challengers, say the supporting papers.

As the land is in green belt, the company acknowledges it has to demonstrate very special circumstances to develop it and argues encroachment would be limited and outweighed by the public benefits.