Battery farm near the M5 could power thousands of Gloucester homes

The Brockworth Energy Reserve could help move Gloucestershire towards a greener future.

Author: Rachael White Published 18th Dec 2023

Plans are being proposed by green energy producers and storage developers Exagen.

The 20 megawatt battery farm would supply enough electricity to power 5000 homes.

If approved by Tewkesbury Borough Council, it'll be built on land north of the A417 near the M5 junction.

The developer has agreed to erect screens and natural buffers to preserve Gloucestershire's natural landscape.

The batteries will also be painted green to blend into the surroundings.

The farm is facing some opposition.

However, Witcombe Festival, which will neighbour the farm, is welcoming the plans.

The festival's founder, Joe Pointon, hopes it will enable the event to be greener.

He said: "We are potentially quite excited about it.

"We're hoping we can create a partnership with the energy company which could see us not using fossil fuels anymore and getting rid of our diesel generators.

"Our festival fans want us to be more sustainable, to have battery powered clean green energy supplied to the festival would be amazing."

Joe Pointon also hopes reliance on the battery farm could reduce the cost of the festival.

He said: "By having green energy piped to us there would be a significant saving on cost.

"We wouldn't have to hire 20-30 generators using thousands of litres of fuel.

"There would be significant cost savings which we could pass onto fans and ticket holders."

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