Planning and Energy sector experts from Burges Salmon have advised Snowdonia Pumped Hydro in receiving development consent from the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy for a 99.9MW pumped hydro storage facility at Glyn Rhonwy near Llanberis in Snowdonia. The consent was granted by the Secretary of State on 8 March 2017.
The £160 million scheme involves re-using two large abandoned slate quarries and is the first of its kind to be consented under the Planning Act 2008 as a Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project (NSIP). Once operational, the facility will have an operational life of around 125 years.
Dave Holmes, Managing Director of Snowdonia Pumped Hydro, said:
"We are grateful to Burges Salmon for their expert legal assistance in helping us secure our first NSIP application for the first project in our development pipeline. We have valued their clear advice in achieving this important milestone for the project."
Julian Boswall, planning partner at Burges Salmon, said:
"We are pleased to have helped Snowdonia Pumped Hydro secure this important consent. The UK needs more large scale electricity storage projects like Glyn Rhonwy to take forward the government’s smart energy agenda, and we look forward to the development of the project".
Burges Salmon worked alongside environmental consultants AECOM and planning consultants GVA in securing the development consent.