British renewable energy company RES has received consent from Rushcliffe Borough Council to build a 99.9MW battery energy storage system (BESS) near the defunct Ratcliffe-on-Soar Power Station.

The Winking Hill BESS in Nottinghamshire will connect directly into the substation that previously served the Ratcliffe-on-Soar Power Station. 

After 60 years, this power station – which was the UK’s last remaining coal-fired power station – closed for good on 30 September 2024. 

The BESS facility will be located on land off West Leake Lane, near Ratcliffe-on-Soar. The battery system will store surplus electricity and then release it during periods of high demand.

This way it will provide stability services to help grid operators balance supply and demand. It will also help reach the government’s ambition of decarbonising the electricity grid across England and the wider UK as quickly as possible.

Jenna Folkard, project manager for RES, said: “We are delighted to receive consent for the Winking Hill BESS. Battery energy storage is one of the most effective tools we have to support the decarbonisation of the grid while keeping the electricity system resilient and responsive. 

“Projects like Winking Hill will underpin the clean energy system of the future, enabling the accelerated roll-out of renewable energy and replacing the reliance on fossil fuel electricity generation.

“We’re proud that this project gets to play its part in supporting the transition to a cleaner and more efficient grid network following the decommissioning of the Ratcliffe-on-Soar Power Station.”

The consent from Rushcliffe Borough Council also includes Winking Hill BESS focusing on biodiversity in the area through careful land and ecological enhancement. 

RES said that the project will include dedicated areas for native planting, hedgerow creation and habitat diversification. This, it says, will result in an estimated 77% increase in habitat units and a 66% uplift in hedgerow units compared with the site’s baseline. 

It alleges that this approach exceeds national Biodiversity Net Gain policy requirements and demonstrates RES’s commitment to delivering environmental and energy resilience.

Construction of the facility will soon get underway and is expected to take around 12 months. 

In March 2025, Europe’s largest grid-balancing energy storage system in Blackhillock, Scotland, began commercial operations. 

Last month, the UK government rejected the £24bn Moroccan solar power project, which would have included 10.5GW of renewable generation, 20GWh of battery storage and a 3.6GW HVDC interconnector.