Plans to turn part of a woodland into an industrial energy storage plant have been submitted.

Root-Power (North) wants to build a complex off the M65 near Oswaldtwistle.

It has applied to Hyndburn Council for permission to build a 60 megawatt Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) at Knuzden Moss Farm off Stanhill Road.

The five-acre (two-hectare) site would see energy stored in batteries and put back into the National Grid at times of high demand.

Supporting papers for the plans say BESS plants “improve the efficiency of existing energy production facilities, notably from renewables where production is intermittent and based on external conditions”.

They add: “BESS plants also provide key stability services to the grid network.”

The plant would include 14 battery clusters, substations and transformers within a compound with two car parking spaces, two water tanks and a fire hydrant.