Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS): Planning Permission

 

Battery energy storage systems are becoming a normal part of the electricity network. They charge when electricity is plentiful and discharge when the system needs it, helping balance intermittent renewable generation and reducing pressure on the grid.

From a planning point of view, however, a grid-scale battery site is still development. Containers, transformers, substations, fencing, CCTV, access tracks and acoustic equipment can create landscape, noise, fire-safety, heritage, ecology and Green Belt issues.

This page explains the planning route for BESS in England, the main issues an application should address, and what the High Court’s Walsall decision tells us about alternative sites in the Green Belt.

 

What is a battery energy storage system?

 

A BESS stores electricity for later use. Grid-scale schemes usually consist of banks of battery containers or cabinets together with power conversion equipment, transformers, a substation or grid connection, access, fencing, lighting, drainage, security and fire-safety infrastructure.

Lithium-ion remains the dominant grid-scale battery technology, although other technologies exist. The planning assessment should follow the actual technology and layout proposed rather than treating every storage project as identical.

 

Does a BESS need planning permission?

 

Yes, a standalone grid-scale BESS will normally require planning permission.

Since the Infrastructure Planning (Electricity Storage Facilities) Order 2020, standalone electricity storage in England, other than pumped hydro storage, has generally been taken out of the Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project threshold. That means even a very large standalone battery project will normally be decided by the local planning authority under the Town and Country Planning Act 1990.

There is still a section 35 power under the Planning Act 2008 for a project to be directed into the NSIP regime where appropriate. A battery element can also form part of a wider generating project which itself proceeds through a Development Consent Order. Our guide to National Policy Statements and nationally significant infrastructure projects explains that separate policy regime.

 

National policy is strongly supportive of storage

 

The Government’s Planning Practice Guidance on renewable and low carbon energy recognises that electricity storage helps balance the system, maximise usable renewable generation and reduce the need for network upgrades.

The August 2026 National Planning Policy Framework strengthens that support through policy W3, which gives substantial weight to the benefits of renewable and low carbon energy development and electricity network infrastructure for energy security, economic development and the move to a net zero future. The Government’s July 2026 Clean Flexibility Roadmap expressly identifies battery storage as associated infrastructure benefiting from the strengthened policy support.

Strong policy support is not the same thing as automatic permission. The proposal’s planning impacts still have to be made acceptable.

 

Fire and thermal-runaway risk

 

For lithium-ion BESS of 1 MWh or more, other than systems associated with a residential dwelling, national PPG encourages applicants to engage with the local fire and rescue service before submitting the planning application. Local planning authorities are likewise encouraged to consult the fire and rescue service when determining the application.

The issues can include:

• separation between battery units and site boundaries
• emergency vehicle access and turning
• water supplies and firefighting strategy
• thermal-runaway detection and containment
• gas and smoke management
• drainage and containment of contaminated firefighting water
• emergency response and site information

The National Fire Chiefs Council guidance is important, but it is guidance rather than a substitute for planning judgment or the advice of the relevant fire and rescue service.

 

Noise can be a major planning issue

 

BESS sites are not silent. Inverters, transformers, cooling equipment and other plant can operate day and night. A robust noise assessment should identify the nearest noise-sensitive receptors, the existing background environment, tonal or low-frequency characteristics and the predicted effect of mitigation.

Do not rely on a generic manufacturer’s sound figure in isolation. The planning question is the effect of the whole operating site at the receptor, including cumulative plant and the proposed operating regime.

See our wider guide to noise in planning applications.

 

Landscape, heritage and ecology

 

A battery site can occupy several hectares and introduce rows of containers, security fencing, lighting, access tracks and grid infrastructure into open countryside. Landscape and visual impact therefore needs to be assessed on the real scheme, not simply described as temporary or low profile.

Other common issues include effects on listed buildings and conservation areas, archaeology, protected species, trees and hedgerows, biodiversity net gain and drainage.

Temporary permission and a decommissioning condition can reduce the long-term effect, but they do not make the operational-period harm disappear from the planning balance.

 

BESS in the Green Belt

 

Green Belt cases need particular care. Depending on the site and the current national policy route, the proposal may be inappropriate development requiring very special circumstances, or another current Green Belt policy route may be relevant. Always apply the current NPPF rather than assuming the policy considered in an older appeal still reads the same way.

Where very special circumstances are required, the wider environmental and energy-system benefits of renewable and low carbon infrastructure can form part of the case. But the decision-maker still has to identify Green Belt harm and any other harm and weigh the considerations properly.

See our guide to Green Belt planning policy and the current 2026 NPPF.

 

Do you need an alternative sites assessment?

 

There is no universal statutory rule saying every BESS application must carry out a sequential search for another site. But an applicant may choose to rely on the absence of realistic alternatives as part of its planning case, particularly in the Green Belt.

If you do that, the assessment needs to be competent and transparent. Grid connection is often the defining locational constraint: connection capacity, the point of connection, distance, cable routing and delivery timetable can sharply limit the realistic search area.

 

What Walsall v Secretary of State tells us

 

Walsall Metropolitan Borough Council v Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government and Anesco Limited [2025] EWHC 2360 (Admin) concerned a temporary 49.35MW BESS in the Green Belt.

The developer’s alternative sites assessment used a search area linked to the point of connection and screened sites for matters including deliverability, availability and competing higher-value development such as housing or commercial use. Walsall challenged the Inspector’s acceptance of that work.

The High Court refused permission to pursue the statutory review. It held that the Inspector had given adequate reasons and was entitled, as a matter of planning judgment, to accept the assessment in the circumstances of that case.

The case does not create a national two-kilometre rule or a fixed BESS methodology. Nor does it mean a site can be excluded simply by labelling another use “higher value”. The useful point is that where the applicant voluntarily relies on alternatives, the search methodology and exclusions are matters of planning judgment which need to be rationally explained and grounded in the project’s real locational requirements.

 

What should a BESS planning application include?

 

The exact package depends on the site, but a grid-scale application may need:

• site and layout plans showing the battery units and all associated infrastructure
• design and access material
• landscape and visual assessment
• noise assessment
• fire and emergency response information following engagement with the fire and rescue service
• transport and construction access information
• drainage and flood-risk information
• ecology and biodiversity net gain material
• heritage and archaeology assessment where relevant
• arboricultural or hedgerow information
• grid-connection evidence where location or need is relied upon
• a decommissioning and restoration strategy
• an alternative sites assessment where the planning case actually relies on one

 

Useful official sources and case law

 

• Planning Practice Guidance – renewable and low carbon energy
• Infrastructure Planning (Electricity Storage Facilities) Order 2020
• Clean Flexibility Roadmap: July 2026 update
• Walsall MBC v SSHCLG and Anesco Limited [2025] EWHC 2360 (Admin)

Other Common Projects

 

 

 

BESS Planning Page Updated: 30th August 2026