Search for Sompting Battery Storage System Contractor Begins in November

West Sussex County Council has announced plans to begin searching for a contractor to build a battery energy storage system in Sompting, with the process starting in November.

The £24 million project, located at a former waste processing site in Halewick Lane, has faced delays due to the withdrawal of the original contractor and global events such as the pandemic. Once complete, the system will store electricity from the National Grid during off-peak periods and release it at higher demand times, generating revenue for the council.

The system, which will be linked to a substation in Worthing, will have the capacity to charge and discharge 16MW of power over a two-hour period. Initially designed for 24MW over one hour, changes by the National Grid led to the adjustment.

A report presented to the Communities, Highways and Environment Scrutiny Committee explained that the two-hour batteries were more competitive. The project is expected to yield a return of 8.2% for the public purse.

Construction is scheduled to begin in April 2025, with the storage system set to go live by March 31, 2027.