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BNG CASE STUDY

Environment Bank Biodiversity Units support renewable energy storage in York

Developer: UK Battery Storage Ltd. & National Grid
Sector: Infrastructure – energy
Region: Yorkshire

LPA: City of York Council
NCA: Vale of York

Habitat Bank: Harrogate, North Yorkshire

Biodiversity Units:  

  • Grassland
  • Woodland

About the development project

At the request of National Grid, UK Battery Storage Ltd. required Biodiversity Units for a battery storage compound development project in York. These batteries play an essential role in storing energy for the grid and allowing a greater amount of renewable energy to be brought into the system.  

This project will help to protect a hundred thousand homes in York from power cuts, many of which have experienced outages in recent years due extreme to heat waves. Facilities like these are becomingly increasingly commonplace as we transition to alternative energy sources that will help us reach our national net zero targets. 

While the storage compound will be decommissioned after two decades, and the land fully restored to its previous ecological state, National Grid still requested a voluntarily investment into off-site Biodiversity Units to compensate for the project’s impacts in the interim – directly supporting impactful nature recovery work. National Grid do so for any impacted habitats created on their land to meet the company’s environmental commitments.

A simple BNG solution with expert support

Our team helped provide substantial post-planning support to the team at UK Battery Storage Ltd, enabling them to secure suitable Unit types and meet National Grid’s requirements.  

As we have a robust supply of Biodiversity Units to offer, the sales process was very straightforward – with agreements signed and Units purchased within a few short weeks. 

With expertise provided by our legal team, we delivered Biodiversity Unit certificates to demonstrate that these have been successfully allocated from our nearby Habitat Bank to this project.

Harrogate Habitat Bank visualisation

Nature restored in North Yorkshire

We were able to provide UK Battery Storage Ltd. with high-integrity woodland and grassland Biodiversity Units from our Harrogate Habitat Bank which sits in the North Yorkshire Council LPA area, just adjacent to York. 

This Habitat Bank is a 32-hectare site surrounded by ancient woodland that’s nestled between Harrogate and Otley. There, our ecologists have been transforming the pasture and silage fields into a mosaic of habitat types to suit the landscape. 

By finding a large space in North Yorkshire where we had the scope to create valuable ecological connections across the area, we’re now able to deliver impactful nature restoration and biodiversity gains. 

We’ve also been able to help the landowner diversify their income through BNG which will, in turn, support their sustainable farming business.

Thanks to UK Battery Storage Ltd. for working with us, we look forward to working on further National Grid projects in the future. The Environment Bank head office is only a mile away from the development site, so our team found this particularly rewarding as the new battery storage compound will help protect their own homes from power cuts. 

Lloyd Collins
Account Director - Planning & Delivery
Environment Bank

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