A farm on the edge of a Somerset beauty spot will become a major power storage facility after new plans were approved by district councillors.

Conrad Energy (Developments) II Ltd. applied to create a battery energy storage facility at King’s Farm on Haddon Lane in the hamlet of Shearston, roughly halfway between Bridgwater and Taunton.

The company – which won approval last year to deliver new employment units near the Crewkerne Key Site – intends to store excess power from the UK power network and sell it back to the National Grid at peak times.

Sedgemoor District Council’s development committee approved the plans when it met in Bridgwater on Tuesday morning (August 23) – despite concerns that it would damage the character of the nearby landscape.

The new facility will be constructed to the west of the existing farm buildings, which lie less than a mile from the Quantock Hills area of outstanding natural beauty.

A total of 45 shipping containers will be sited near the farm, connected via underground cables to an electricity pylon on the opposite side of Haddon Lane.

Of these 45 containers, 30 will contain batteries to store the excess energy from the grid, while 15 will contain inverters to ensure the electricity is imported and exported at the correct voltages.

Fletcher Robinson, a trustee of the Somerset CPRE said the AONB’s objections to the development had been “wrongly dismissed” and warned the development could damage the character of this peaceful rural backwater.

He said: “The harm is not just to the views. The main harm is to the character to the setting of the Quantock Hills.

“This proposal will cause significant harm to the immediate area of the protected landscape.”

A number of other battery energy storage facilities are already in operation in Somerset – including the Fideoak site west of Taunton and a recently-approved facility on part of the former Wansborough paper mill site in Watchet.

Councillor Gary Wong – whose North Petherton ward includes the site – said there was “a very strong local objection” to the proposals.

He said: "By approving this application today, we are approving putting up 45 shipping containers and a security fence near an AONB. It would have a significant impact on the character of the surrounding area.

"This doesn’t need be in that location. Although energy security is important and energy prices are rising, food prices are also rising.

"We may struggle without electricity, but we will die without food. We need more farmland, not less."