Plans for an energy storage system in a Solihull village have been shelved. 

Applicant Enso Green Holdings P Ltd revealed its proposal to turn land at Beechwood Farm in Berkswell into a battery energy storage system (BESS) a year ago.

BESS are designed to store generated renewable energy to later be supplied to the grid when needed.

The site on Hodgetts Lane was proposed to have battery containers, transformers and a control room in the application lodged with Solihull planners.

About 57MW of storage was planned to be provided with a connection to the grid via Berkswell Sub-Station 650m south-east of the site, with the connecting cable running below ground. 

The application was a resubmission of a proposal turned down by Solihull Council's planning committee in November 2023. 

But it has now emerged that on June 23 the application had been withdrawn by the applicant. 

As the Local Democracy Reporting Service recently reported a similar scheme on green belt land at Burton Green Farm went before council planners and was given the go-ahead on the basis there were special circumstances to allow it.

Applicant for that scheme, Conrad Energy (Developments), successfully argued it would help prevent blackouts similar to the one suffered in Spain earlier this year.

And Grenergy Renewables UK has unveiled plans to develop 3.73 hectares of land in Benton Green Lane in Berkswell – currently in agricultural use – to become a BESS. 

Planning agent Lichfields says that proposed site would include up to 56 battery containers, 14 power station units and a substation.

A public consultation has now closed with a decision potentially being made by Solihull planners on that scheme soon.