Penso Power wins planning permission for 250MWh battery

Storage developer Penso Power has secured planning permission for a 100MW/250MWh battery system at Bramley in Hampshire.

The project was refused planning permission by Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council in 2021 but has now been granted consent following a successful appeal to the Planning Inspectorate.

The distribution-connected storage facility will be owned by a joint venture between Penso Power and BW Energy Storage Systems, although Penso Power will oversee its development and then manage the system once it becomes operational.

BW Energy Storage Systems committed to fund the build out of Penso’s development pipeline, which then stood at 3GWh, as part of an agreement between the two companies in 2021.

The pipeline has since grown to more than 4GWh, with the largest publicly announced project being the 350MW Hams Hall project in North Warwickshire, which has planning permission for up to 1,750MWh of storage capacity.

In early 2021, Penso energised its first project – the Minety battery storage system in Wiltshire. The facility currently has a generation/storage capacity of 100MW/136MWh, although this will eventually be expanded to 150MW/266MWh

The company is headed by chief executive Richard Thwaites, who was chairman of the energy technology firm Limejump up until its acquisition by Shell in 2019.

Thwaites said: “Bramley is an important project in our pipeline, and we expect it to play an important role in supporting UK energy security and ensuring the resilience of our electricity system. We are targeting 2024 for Bramley to enter commercial operation.”