Europe’s largest battery project secures planning consent in Scotland – updated

The Scottish government has granted planning consent to a 900 MW/1.8 GWh BESS development in Perth and Kinross, Scotland. The consent order secured by project developer EcoDev (Alyth) Ltd paves the way for construction of the largest battery storage project in Europe to date.   

Plans for the Alyth Battery Energy Storage System project consist of 354 battery storage units, 236 inverters, and 118 transformers on a 13-hectare farm site. The project developer confirmed the capacity as 1.8 GWh to ESS News.  

The site for the proposed two-hour BESS is around 100 km north of Edinburgh and is directly south of a newly upgraded Scottish & Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN) 275/400 kV substation. SSEN reenergized its Alyth substation in January 2024, following three years of construction and a reported GBP 86 million ($108 million) in investment.   

In its decision letter green lighting the Alyth BESS project, the Scottish government said grid-scale BESS facilities can make “a significant contribution” to renewable energy generation targets.  

The government also noted energy storage has potential to “harness electricity generation that might otherwise be curtailed” due to grid constraints. Curtailment cost almost GBP 1 billion in the United Kingdom in 2023, largely due to the need to turn down wind generation assets.  

Scotland was home to around 39% of UK wind generating capacity and 5% of European capacity in 2023, according to government figures, but accounts for only 8% of the UK population. Moving electricity from the north of Great Britain to the densely populated south is one of the key infrastructure challenges for the transmission network.   

In a statement to ESS News, a Scottish government spokesperson described Scotland as a “global leader” in renewables deployment. “As we expand our deployment of onshore and offshore wind, solar and marine energy, Scotland’s renewable resources will play an increasingly important role in the transition to a net zero GB electricity system.  

 “Battery storage will play a role in Scotland’s future energy mix. It offers fast responding, dispatchable power when required. It also provides a number of ancillary services required to maintain stability within the electricity networks,” they said.   

EcoDev (Alyth) Ltd initially applied for development consent for a 450 MW BESS but requested an increase in capacity to 900 MW in 2023. The additional capacity did not increase the project footprint or change the site layout.  

Local objections to the project included concern over the potential to disturb the area’s osprey population, a bird species protected under the law. Conditions in the consent order granted by the Scottish government included a requirement to submit a bird protection plan to the local planning authority before construction begins.  

A breeding pair of ospreys nest nearby SSEN’s Alyth substation. More than a dozen chicks have been successfully reared since a nesting platform was constructed 100 m southwest of the site 2014.  

Records posted on the UK government’s Companies House indicate EcoDev (Alyth) Ltd shares company officers with Rampart Capital LLP, a London-based investment management company.   

– This article was amended on Nov. 29, 2024 to update with MWh capacity, a comment from the Scottish Government, and a more accurate description of the osprey breeding platform location.