Plans for new £3.5m Teesside ‘flexible’ energy facility unveiled

A Durham developer has brought forward plans to develop a new flexible energy generation and storage facility in Stockton-on-Tees worth £3.5m.

The Banks Group plans to build the site at the Bowesfield Crescent Industrial Estate, selected due to its infrastructure links and access to Northern Powergrid’s electricity network, following public consultation which will take place online due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The facility will include a natural gas/hydrogen ‘peaker plant’ and an electricity storage battery, which acts as a balancing electrical load, importing when there is excess generation and exporting when there is a deficit.

The generation will release electricity at times of high demand, providing short-term boosts as required, with gas facilities also available if additional energy is needed.

As well as the online consultation, over 1,000 local homes and businesses will receive printed information while a dedicated project web page containing key plans and information has also been set up.

The Banks Group will submit planning application for the Bowesfield Flexible Energy Park to Stockton Borough Council before the end of the year, with a view to it being considered by the council’s planning committee in spring 2021.

Mark Rowcroft, technical manager at The Banks Group – which developed the Bowesfield Site – said: “Peaker plants will play an important part in the UK’s continuing journey to Net Zero by providing greater security of energy supply which in turn allows more renewable generation onto the network.

“While these plants currently run on natural gas, they will be able to run on green hydrogen in due course, and with Teesside being a growing base for hydrogen production, we hope to be able to run our peaker plant on it in due course.

“We are working hard to ensure that everyone has access to information about the scheme, can view and comment on our proposals and can contact members of the project team with any queries or ideas they might have.”