Advice to Storelectric Ltd

Enquiry

• From: Storelectric Ltd
• Date advice given: 3 October 2019
• Enquiry type: Email

Dear Mr Johannson as promised my notes to the C&W planning office, just to clarify the base application uses a compressor of under 50MW and generation is under 50MW, in this case we see no problem and the jurisdiction falls under the LPA. The question we have is if and only if we increase the compressor size to around 60MW (i.e demand side) but generation remaining at under 50MW are we still under the LPA jurisdiction, the council as we thought yes but were not 100% sure. • Sizing of main equipment (including sizing of compressor - see point below in view of the 50MW threshold) • Concerning the Planning Act 2008 and the generation threshold, it would be good to get your legal guys to check/confirm we are still within local planning jurisdiction, the following i hope helps clarify our position o In our opinion, consideration of our facility with regards planning would fall solely under section 15 of the Act (generating stations) and not under section 17 (underground gas storage) because the purpose of the facility is electricity storage (which currently has no legal definition and is therefore consumption plus generation) not gas storage. o In our opinion a 50MW generation capacity falls within local planning jurisdiction, because 14.2.c states "more than 50MW" (my emphasis). o 49MW net Generation capacity (into the distribution grid), We would use compressors for charging only (no generation) between 50-70MW. § our view is we do not fall under Part 3 clause 15.2 -> Generating Stations as our output will be less than 50MW § our view is we would be assessed under clause 15 Generating Stations if anything and not assessed under clause 17 “Underground storage facilities” since we a/ are not storing gas (as in natural gas which is what we assume the word gas refers to) b/ we are not creating underground gas storage as the caverns already exist c/any caverns would in any case be auxiliary (or secondary) to the main purpose of generation Please note in all scenarios we are under 50MW generation, the compressor if slightly higher sized means we would need less hours in the early morning to compress all the air we needed and less hours means a lower price of off peak electricity can be secured improving our economics. Hope this helps Kind regards Tallat Azad

Advice given

Dear Mr Tallat, Under section 14(1)(a) of the Planning Act, as amended (PA 2008), the construction or extension of a generating station is defined as a Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project (NSIP). Section 15 of PA 2008 clarifies that the construction or an extension of a generating station is within section 14(1)(a) only if the generating station is or (when constructed or extended) is expected to be, amongst other things, a generating station that is in England or Wales, not an offshore generating station, and its capacity is more than 50 megawatts. In your email dated 26 September 2019 you expressed a wish for legal advice whether your project would be classified as an NSIP if the compressor size was increased to 60MW but the output remained under 50MW. As mentioned during our telephone conversation the Planning Inspectorate does not have the power to give a legally binding interpretation on whether the potential generating station proposal to which you refer would be classed as a National Significant Infrastructure Project. Only the Courts can ultimately determine the interpretation of legislation, and to date there has been no case law on this point under the 2008 Planning Act. It will of course be for the developer who wants to construct the generating station to decide whether or not to apply for development consent taking their own legal advice which they can rely on. The Planning Inspectorate has previously issued advice regarding the definition of capacity which might be of benefit to you. The advice has been published here: https://infrastructure.planninginspectorate.gov.uk/legislation-and-advice/register-of-advice/?ipcadvice=a6ce469e38 It should also be noted that the Planning Inspectorate, on behalf of the Secretary of State, is only able to decide whether development consent is required for a project, under section 44 of PA 2008, once an application has been formally submitted.