Online Public Exhibition

On Tuesday 30th November 2021 we held an online public exhibition for the Drum Farm Energy Storage System. The video below provided an introduction, to the exhibition, from RES.

This online exhibition was designed to inform the local community about the proposed Drum Farm Energy Storage System and gather people’s views. Hard copies of all exhibition materials are available, upon request. Please contact us for more information. The closing date for comments was 7th January 2022, comments may still be submitted but may not be taken into account as the design is finalised.

About the Project

Located on land off Drum Road

Located 270m east of Keith Electrical Substation and approximately 1.2km east of the centre of Keith

Located within an agricultural field and covers an area of approximately 2.1ha

Click on image to enlarge

The project would have a capacity of 49.9MW

There are no nationally important heritage designations in the immediate vicinity

The site lies outside of any international, national or local environmental designations

Design Layout and Infrastructure

The proposed system is a containerised scheme, involving proven lithium ion battery technology which RES has deployed at multiple projects around the world.

Access to the site would be via the existing grass track, which connects the site with Drum Road to the north. The track would be upgraded to compacted stone.

The infrastructure would include:

- Battery Containers
- Power Conversion Systems and Transformers
- Customer Substation
- Auxiliary Transformer
- Grid Compliance Equipment
- Security System

Why Energy Storage?

Our energy system is in a transitionary period.

Ageing infrastructure is being replaced and greater
flexibility introduced into our networks via technological advances, such as energy storage, to manage the increasingly complex supply and demand needs of the 21st Century.

Energy storage is crucial in enabling the rollout of zero carbon energy and supporting the UK’s net-zero emissions target.

Click on image to enlarge

Renewable energy technologies are needed to replace electricity generation from fossil fuels, however, they generate electricity intermittently depending on weather conditions, which can cause imbalances in the electricity network.

Energy storage works by storing energy at times when generation exceeds demand and then releases electricity back to the national grid network when demand exceeds generation.

Electricity is not physically generated on site.

Environmental Considerations

RES will design the energy storage system so that it will fit sensitively in the surrounding landscape.

A number of assessments will be carried out to ensure any potential impact upon the environment, landscape, heritage and local residents is appropriately assessed and mitigated.

The assessments to be carried out will include:

- Noise & Vibration
- Ecology
- Landscape
- Heritage & Archaeology
- Flood Risk & Surface Water Management
- Cumulative Impacts

Landscape and Visual

The project is not located within any designated landscape areas.

Care has been taken to avoid siting the project within the Countryside Around Towns (CATs) area.

The project is located in an area with an existing industrial landscape, including the existing Keith landscape.

Views from Keith will be limited by residential properties and the existing electrical infrastructure.

Landscaping and tree planting is proposed to reduce any potential visual impact from the Keith KT07 Green Roadies Path.