PROPOSALS have emerged to build a battery storage facility near Fishcross.

Public consultation is to take place over 12 weeks as part of the pre-application process for the 25MW battery storage facility.

Green Power Consultants lodged a proposal of application notice (PAN) for the facility, located on land at Bankhead Farm, south of Twentyfive Acre Wood, off the B9140.

The plot of land is to the west of the village, spanning around 2.91 hectares in total in open countryside and opposite the substation there.

Public events are to be held at Alloa Golf Club in Sauchie on August 15 and 29 with both days hosting two events from 11am to 2pm and from 4pm to 7pm.

Letters regarding the proposals are also to be sent to councillors and parliamentary representatives along with notifications to be sent to neighbouring addresses and to Sauchie and Fishcross Community Council.

Those behind the plans say they will also set up a consultation website to feature application material and give residents a further opportunity to learn about and consult on the proposal.

According to its website, applicants Green Power Consultants work with landowners “to maximise the potential of their land” by identifying suitable renewable energy opportunities.

The York-based company has previously delivered solar and turbine developments.

It is understood a large battery facility was approved in the same location in 2017 but works never started on the development.

Back then, approval was given to site 17 containers with battery storage for a 30-year period on a 0.84 hectare site, along with 25 transformers and a link to the substation across the road.

That development would have been capable of storing up to 50MWh of electricity, to be released in the grid during peak periods.

It would have captured and stored power generated by renewables such as the Burnfoot Hill Windfarm or the Balhearty solar array.

In the past year, the wider area in question saw a proposal for a gas-fired electricity generating “peaking” power plant on neighbouring land south of Hennings Wood, which was refused over its adverse impact on the countryside.

The decision was appealed but the plans were again thrown out by the Scottish ministers who agreed and suggested the development would be an “incongruous intrusion” into an area of attractive countryside.

Exact details for the latest battery storage facility are expected to emerge during the pre-application consultation and in subsequent applications.