Plans for huge energy park and data centre approved

Ted Peskett, local democracy reporter

A huge renewable energy project in Cardiff’s has been approved despite concerns over habitat loss.

The energy park and data centre development proposed for the old motocross track off Rover Way in Tremorfa will have a 1,000MW battery storage capacity – making it one of the biggest battery storage facilities in the world.

Currently the biggest battery storage facility is in California and has a capacity of 875MW to store surplus solar energy. There is a plan for a £750m facility with a capacity of 1,040MW in Manchester.

The idea behind the energy park is to have supply of stored energy, produced from a renewable source like wind power, to help meet growing energy demands in the UK in a way that is environmentally friendly.

Environmental impacts

However, at a Cardiff Council planning committee meeting on Thursday, October 17 where the plans were approved, senior planners at the local authority said the development will come with environmental impacts.

Cardiff Council planning officer Tim Walter pointed planning committee members’ attention to the fact that the proposed building site is surrounded by a number of sites of scientific and ecological importance.

He said some tree loss will be necessary and that the council accepts the development “will be big and prominent”, but he added that the scheme was seen to be acceptable on balance.

Motorcycle riders stopped using the Rover Way site, which was once subject to controversial plans for a wood-chipped biomass plant, this summer.

About 2,000 cubic metres of material will need to be redistributed and potentially removed from the site in order to level it for the energy park. This will result in a 70% loss of habitat space.

Compensation

No compensation site has been offered in mitigation for the loss of land, however the council will benefit from a legal agreement with the developer which will see it gain £250,000.

It is hoped this can be used to fund biodiversity projects or find replacement land in mitigation. However, the council’s own ecological officer raised concerns about the lack of off-site compensation.

Some planning committee members, including Cllr Adrian Robson, also raised their concerns.

Cardiff Council’s operational manager for strategic development management and placemaking, Steve Ball, said he hopes the money will contribute “significantly” to the loss of land and habitat but added that this is not guaranteed.

Although there is the guarantee of money, he added that the council cannot give certainty as to what this money will do. He went on to say that the impacts of the development are outweighed by the “fundamental benefits” that it will bring.

A planning statement produced for the developers, PCG Ltd, LATOs Ltd and TEP Ltd, reads: “The drive to achieve a carbon-neutral energy strategy for the UK is dependent on the use of renewable and green energy.

“Wind and solar power are the most cost-effective forms of energy generation.

“However, particularly around the UK, they are unreliable, meaning they do not generate 24/7 and may not be producing power when it is needed, so, as the UK’s energy requirements continue to grow, electricity storage facilities will help ensure that energy supply is able to meet the demand.

“These facilities allow power to be stored to balance the network when it is required, creating a more secure system that is environmentally and financially sustainable.”

Shipping containers

The energy park will be made up of 828 battery units stored in shipping containers.

On the other side of the development, the data centre will be 25m in height and comprise of eight floors. Access to it will be off Rover Way.

Another member of the planning committee, Cllr Michael Michael, called the current site at Rover Way “unsightly”.

He added: “If we are serious about our carbon zero commitments… then applications like this need to be seriously considered in this area and in this country.

“For what it is, it is an excellent application.”

It is also hoped the development will create hundreds of jobs in the area.
About 1,000 will be created during the construction period; 200 during the operational period; and about 200-300 jobs in the local supply chain are also expected benefit.

Planning committee member, Cllr Helen Gunter, asked whether local people would benefit from the jobs on offer.

Mr Ball sad the council hadn’t heard from the developer as to whether jobs at the site would go to local people, but he added that he was confident that this was something “any reasonable development” would seek to achieve.