Root-Power wins planning appeal for BESS in Wakefield

The site is located 750 m from the point of connection at Featherstone Substation and is situated on land south of Normanton Industrial Estate.

The project was refused planning permission at committee in July 2025 due to its location being on Green Belt land. This was despite a recommendation by the planning case officer to approve the development with conditions.

In its appeal, Root-Power alongside planning consultants Lanpro argued that the location chosen was grey-belt land, and that it did not meaningfully contribute to Green Belt Purposes, this position was accepted by the Planning Inspectorate who granted the appeal.

In allowing the appeal, the Inspector cited the Clean Power 2030 Action Plan, confirming that the UK’s current storage capacity falls far below what is required to reach a decarbonised grid – demonstrating a compelling unmet national need that projects like Cooklands Farm directly address.

The project is due to commence construction in 2028 and to go into full commercial operation in 2029 once super-grid transformer upgrade works at Featherstone BSP have been completed by Northern Power Grid.

Neil Brooks, Managing Director at Root-Power, said: “We are excited to announce this successful planning appeal for our project near Wakefield.

“It is fantastic to see the planning inspectorate supporting the roll-out of this vital technology, Cooklands Farm is Root-Power’s third successful planning appeal in the last six weeks. In all three cases the projects had been recommended for approval by their respective planning officers but refused at committee.

“Yorkshire is an important region for Root-Power with this latest project in due to join projects in Selby, Rochdale and Camblesforth – a total of more than 230 MW going live by 2030.”

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Read the article online at: https://www.energyglobal.com/energy-storage/01122025/root-power-wins-planning-appeal-for-bess-in-wakefield/