Planning application · Battery storage · Sunderland

Evolve Business Centre

Awaiting ConstructionApplication 20/00134/LP3Submitted 5 February 2020Granted 1 May 2020

In the evidence packnearest refused scheme •• kmShown in the pack

The application

Application number: 20/00134/LP3
Planning authority: Sunderland
County or area: Tyne and Wear
Nation: England
Technology: Battery storage (Co-located with RE)
Status: Awaiting Construction (Planning Permission Granted)
Operator or applicant: Sunderland City Services
Location: Evolve Business Centre, Cygnet Way, Houghton-Le-Spring, Tyne and Wear, DH4 5QY

Timeline

5 February 2020 Planning application submitted
1 May 2020 Planning permission granted
1 May 2025 Planning permission expired

Preview of the planning evidence pack for this site

The pack for this site lists 5 comparable battery incidents in the United Kingdom, grid-scale only, nearest first. The nearest is EIR-0638, Explosion and prolonged fire at Orsted battery storage site in Liverpool, 185 km from this site.

Reference	Year	Incident	From the site	Severity
EIR-0638	2020	Explosion and prolonged fire at Orsted battery storage site in Liverpool	185 km	Major
EIR-0584	2026	Fire in a battery container at Rufford Colliery BESS, Rainworth, caused by a short circuit in NMC cells	192 km	Significant
EIR-0058	2025	Fire in two battery containers at Cirencester Hybrid Solar Farm, Gloucestershire	348 km	Significant
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The first 3 rows as the pack shows them. The other 2 are in the pack, each with its distance, sources and the fire service guidance it bears on.

The map

Summary for this site

This part of the pack is written for this site and opens with the pack. This part of the pack is written for this site and opens with the pack. This part of the pack is written for this site and opens with the pack.

Paragraphs for the planning statement

In the full pack

What the planning evidence pack adds for this application

The pack is made for Evolve Business Centre from the register and the government planning database: every comparable incident, nearest first, with its sources; the schemes refused, withdrawn or taken to appeal within 40 km, your council first; and the fire service guidance each incident bears on. One fixed, dated file, as a PDF, a web page and a Word document.

Incidents within 50 km: •••
Nearest recorded incident: ••••••
UK grid-scale incidents, with NFCC notes: ••••
Schemes refused within 40 km: •••
Nearest refused scheme: ••••••••••••
Appeals within 40 km: •••
Decisions in Sunderland: ••••••••
Sites of a similar size, worldwide: ••••
NFCC guidance points: ••••••••
Sources and citations: ••••••••••

Launch price: £145 until 31 October (normally £295). By email in minutes. The order form arrives filled in from this application.

Get the full planning pack Download a sample pack (PDF)

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Want to see a pack first? Download a sample pack (PDF). It is an example pack for a 50 MW battery project in Lincolnshire, with every section and the first rows of each table.

The site's own page has its map, the energy sites around it and anyone can follow it for changes. Every planning application. Every application in Sunderland.

Data updated 3 August 2026 from the Renewable Energy Planning Database (DESNZ), published quarterly.

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0 (Renewable Energy Planning Database, Department for Energy Security and Net Zero). The dataset. The register adds only the incidents and the counts.