Downing Renewable Developments (DRD) has been granted the first planning consent in a portfolio of renewable energy sites it is developing in partnership with UK waste and resource management business FCC Environment.
The planning consent is for a battery storage facility close to Rowley Regis in the West Midlands of up to 100MW/200MWh which will store enough energy to power up to 300,000 homes for a two-hour period.
DRD worked with FCC Environment to ensure that the Rowley Regis site, known as the Edwin Richards Energy Storage Park, aligns with FCC’s own ongoing operational requirements and community obligations.
DRD will continue to work with FCC Environment in the development of a significant portfolio of sites that includes onshore wind, battery storage and solar farms.
DRD was granted its first planning consent last year for a 49.9MW solar farm in Norfolk, part of its 6GW pipeline of development projects across the UK.
FCC Environment chief executive Steve Longdon, said: “As one of the UK’s largest waste and resource businesses, we know it’s our duty to do the best by our environment and the communities in which we operate.
“We have a large landholding across the UK, and it is our responsibility as land stewards to manage that land in a sustainable way and return it back to productive environmental use once it is no longer required for operational purposes.
“As such we are delighted to be working with DRD on this and other projects to do just that.”
Tony Gannon, head of Downing Renewable Developments, added: “Our relationship with FCC Environment has been an important step as we continue to grow our business, particularly given the joint benefits we can achieve of using largely brownfield land for renewable energy purposes.
“We look forward to building on this partnership as we continue to develop further projects.”