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Battery energy storage sites are not usually audible above ambient noise- levels, particularly when sited close to busy roads as is the case here. A full noise assessment will be submitted with our planning application.

The battery containers are designed to ensure safe operation across the project lifetime. Individual battery cells are continuously monitored by a sophisticated safety system and controlled remotely if required to ensure safe operation.

Battery energy storage systems are designed to comply with strict safety standards set by international regulatory bodies, such as the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC).

These standards cover all aspects of the battery storage systems, from installation to operation and maintenance, to ensure that they meet the highest safety standards.

No, the project is temporary with batteries, other equipment and hard infrastructure removed at the end of the project and the land returned to agricultural use.

Most of the components are prefabricated offsite rather than assembled in situ. On site construction will be restricted to the laying of shallow concrete pads for battery containers to sit on and the craning of prefabricated units into position ready for cabling and connection works. As such, project construction would take 12-15 months.

Typically, there would be on average one or two HGVs a day bringing prefabricated units to the site during construction. Once operational there will typically be two routine maintenance visits a month in a transit sized van.

The site will not be illuminated at night.

The Lithium-Ion batteries that will be used in the project are not reliant on scarce raw materials. There are established recycling processes for recovering the most common elements used in battery construction - cobalt, nickel, lithium and manganese - for re-use.

Clearstone Energy is offering £50,000 of local community funding every year for the 40 years the Junction 27 Energy Hub operates. In total this amounts to £2million pounds of funding injected into Mid Devon economy, with the annual payment being index linked so that it increases with inflation.

The offer is envisaged to support three types of schemes, depending on what the local community and Mid-Devon District Council wishes to prioritise. The amount is fixed to £50,000 per year to be allocated as appropriate between three different offers:

1. Electricity subsidy - We believe that those that live closest to any of our proposed renewable energy projects should share in its economic benefits. The offer includes an annual subsidy for existing households closest and most affected by the project via a fixed financial contribution towards their electricity bill for the lifetime of the project.

o The criteria for the scheme will be drawn up in consultation with Mid-Devon District Council, Burlescombe Parish Council and Sampford Peverell Parish Council as part of the public consultation process and then publicised. In principle, if the environmental impact assessments that accompany our Junction 27 planning application show that a home is adversely affected by the project, then the current bill payer at that home will be entitled to register for the scheme.

2. Energy saving support for low income households - Across the UK many households are struggling to pay for the energy they need for light, heat and cooking. Often referred to as fuel poverty, this affects around 6 million people in the UK in some way. For many of these households the energy cost savings offered by LED lighting, improved insulation, higher efficiency heating systems and solar panels are not affordable.

o The project offers an annual financial contribution to help low income households within Mid-Devon district to reduce their energy consumption and, therefore, energy bills. Household support will be delivered by a local partner, for example Exeter Community Energy who is already active in the local area providing energy saving support through its Healthy Homes for Wellbeing project. The partner will be determined through the planning application consultation process. The Junction 27 project will provide an annual financial contribution to the selected delivery partner for the lifetime of the project. Support will be directed at initiatives that will have the most impact for households in the local area.

3.Support for community projects - We will offer to establish a charitable fund to benefit the parishes of Burlescombe and Sampford Peverell. The fund would provide financial support to community organisations and individuals running local community projects. Examples of where we hope to support such work are promoting access to community activities or services, skills and employment opportunities for local people, sport and recreation, improved health and wellbeing, community energy projects or maintenance of community buildings.

o The offered charitable fund would be administered by a local Community Foundation who will manage applications for funding from community organisations and projects. The project will make an annual index linked contribution to the charitable fund for the duration of the project.

BESS facilities are designed as containerised, modular systems. Those that have been built to date have typically used shipping containers to house batteries and associated equipment. The containers are laid out around an access track. The technology is continually advancing and newer designs use a series of cubes rather than shipping containers as a more compact option. Containers are usually painted white to reflect sunlight and reduce the energy required to cool the batteries. The maximum height of the batteries will be 3 metres.

There is some loss of energy associated with all energy storage technologies. This energy loss (or preservation) is referred to as Round Trip Efficiency - in effect, how much of the energy put into the storage facility is put back on to the electricity grid. Lithium batteries are one of the most efficient of the storage technologies currently available with an efficiency approaching 90%. There are also transmission losses associated with transporting electricity through cables. For the nationwide electricity transmission network this is estimated to be around 2%. As the proposed battery project will connect directly to nearby overhead transmission lines there will be minimal electricity lost in the cables between the batteries and electricity network.

The pylons are part of the nationwide electricity transmission owned by National Grid that transports energy from generators to towns and cities across the UK and will remain in place. The proposed project will connect directly to the transmission network via one of these pylons to assist the National Grid with balancing supply and demand across the country.