Plans for one of the country’s biggest energy storage facilities on the edge of a Kent village have prompted fears over its impact on the green belt.

The facility could store enough power for hundreds of thousands of homes, but some fear the development, described by opponents as “inappropriate” and “urban” in nature, could encroach upon the countryside.

Clearstone Energy are behind the proposals to build a massive battery energy storage facility south of Station Road, Southfleet, between Dartford and Gravesend.

Dubbed the “Dartford Energy Hub”, they argue it “is a crucial net zero infrastructure project” which is required to modernise the electricity network.

Planning to occupy land adjacent to the A2, the scheme’s masterminds say they will be investing £200million into the project, as well as £50,000 a year for the local community, including “energy efficiency support” for local people living in fuel poverty and support for community projects.

The battery energy storage facility will be able to store a maximum of 300 Megawatts (MW) of power - which Clearstone say is enough to power every home in the boroughs of Dartford, Gravesham, and Sevenoaks for one hour.

The system would connect to the nearby Northfleet substation, and according to the developers, will displace the equivalent carbon of planting 1.9 million trees.

Sitting so close to Bexley in outer London, large parts of Dartford Borough, including around Southfleet, are in the metropolitan green belt, where it’s harder to get planning permission.

Southfleet Parish Council has consistently objected to previous applications for battery storage units in the areas on the grounds of “inappropriate development in the Green Belt”.

Most recently Energy firm EcoDev submitted a planning application for a battery energy storage system capable of storing enough energy to power more than 124,000 homes off Foxhounds Lane.

A decision was meant to be made on that bid in July, but the council’s target deadline has been pushed back to November 29, with no decision made yet.

Dartford council leader Jeremy Kite, who represents Longfield, New Barn and Southfleet, believes such developments need to be in places that are “more urban”.

“Clearly there's a need to see if there are energy uses to ensure that we have energy security,” he told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS).

“Once agricultural and rural land is lost, it is lost forever.

“Companies working to improve our energy supplies must look to the creation of new infrastructure on land that is genuinely suited to the use.

“I am sure planning members will look thoroughly at any application but I’m clear that rural villages and agricultural communities deserve to be protected so that they can serve our country’s food needs long into the future .

“These sorts of developments, that I consider to be urban developments, they need to be sited in places that are more urban.”

At 300MW, the infrastructure dwarfs other comparable facilities, and would be one of the largest in the country.

Once agricultural and rural land is lost, it is lost forever

The battery energy storage system planned for Cleve Hill solar farm at Graveney, near Faversham - one of the biggest solar arrays in the whole country - will store only 150MW.

The project won planning permission despite massive opposition on the basis it would power more than 100,000 homes.

But it has since materialised the plant will not benefit new homes, and will instead supply supermarkets.

The largest storage system currently running is the 198MW Pillswood facility in East Yorkshire, with the largest under construction at Monk Fryston, North Yorkshire, weighing in at 320 MW.

However, the largest proposed is in Granborough, Buckinghamshire, where in February plans were submitted for a 500MW facility.

Clearstone Energy has not yet submitted a planning application to Dartford council and is still consulting on its plans. Click here to find out more.

Once the public consultation closes on Tuesday November 19, the firm says it will integrate feedback into a final project plan and submit a formal bid.

Those living closest to the site will typically be contacted by letter by the council when the planning application has been received.

The firm says that if the project is given the green light they hope to see the facility operational by 2028.

There is a presentation from the firm at Southfleet Village Hall from 2.30pm until 7.30pm today (November 5), where residents can hear the proposals in more detail.