Angus planning officials say a 50MW battery energy storage scheme beside Forfar’s Station Park should get the go-ahead.
Vital Energi is behind the project for vacant ground at Carseview Road.
The land once housed a huge gasholder which towered over the home of The Loons.
It was demolished and the site cleared many years ago.
Since then the land has lain unused.
An application for the battery energy storage scheme (BESS) was lodged with Angus Council earlier this year.
The development would see the installation of 14 battery energy storage units and seven power conversion units almost three metres in height.
These would be metal structures similar to shipping containers.
The site would also contain a 50sq m substation building sited adjacent to the Carseview Road boundary.
It would be surrounded by a five-metre high acoustic fence and nine-camera CCTV system.
Councillors to consider Forfar BESS bid
On Tuesday, the application will be considered by Angus Council’s development standards committee.
Officials have recommended the application is given conditional approval.
They say the battery storage bid is an acceptable use of the vacant brownfield land.
“The site would be seen in the context of existing commercial development, including large-scale industrial buildings,” the planning report states.
“There are other horizontal man-made features in the surrounding landscape, including the infrastructure at neighbouring Station Park.”
Planners believe it would be “a modern development with a very localised visual impact”.
“This development would provide a source of power supply to help balance energy demand in the grid and would make a reasonable contribution towards reducing carbon emissions,” the report adds.
“Policy requires that this is given significant weight.”
There were no objections to the application.
Officials have suggested a range of conditions, including starting the development within three years.
If the project is approved, it will be allowed to operate for 30 years.
The applicants would also have to submit a plan for the restoration of the ground after that time.
In 2017, an application for a gas-powered electricity generation plant on the site was approved. The planning permission was never progressed.
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