AN energy company says “exceptional circumstances” mean it should be allowed to install 108 huge batteries on a Green Belt site outside of Bradford.

It has been claimed that the development, on Harrop Lane in Wilsden - next to the Bradford West substation, would create the largest high-voltage substation in the country.

On Thursday morning, Councillors will decide whether to grant permission for an energy storage facility, proposed by 24 Power Limited.

The company says the battery farm would be “temporary” – after 50 years the batteries would be removed and the site restored.

The facility would allow the National Grid to store up to 100 megawatts of energy, and the applicants say it would prevent between 4,320 to 6,740 tonnes of Carbon Dioxide equivalent being released into the atmosphere per annum.

Planning officers have recommended the Council’s Regulatory and Appeals Committee approve the plans.

The site is next to a plot of land that is currently being turned into a smaller battery farm – made up of 50 battery cabinets.

A response from Wilsden Parish Council said: “We accept that there is a national need for energy storage but a previous smaller application on an adjacent site with this would make the battery storage at Bradford West among the largest of the National Grid's 330 high voltage substations.”

The report to the Committee said: “It is considered that the economic benefits of the proposal are substantial.

“Energy storage is relatively new to the UK and evolving. It is accepted that the purpose of such energy storage is to maximise efficiency, provide backup infrastructure to stabilise the gird and that the electricity stored in such facilities is primarily from renewable sources.

“There is a need to deliver improvements to energy efficiency and energy management - managing the National Grid is of upmost importance.”

Referring to the concern about the development being in the Green Belt, the report said: “The proposal would include a number of industrial features that would cumulatively erode the undeveloped nature of the existing site.

“The proposed temporary period of 50 years is a considerable timescale and it is a long-term encroachment on the Green Belt, but as referenced in several recent planning appeals similar to this development, the impact on the Green Belt would not be permanent and therefore overall limiting its long-term effects.”

The Committee will be told although the plans would harm the Green Belt, the benefits of the scheme mean there are enough “exceptional circumstances” to approve the development.