Scottish Government approves plan to develop 50 MW energy storage project at Whitelee wind facility

The Scottish Government has approved ScottishPower's plans for the UK’s largest wind farm, Whitelee, to have its own purpose-built super battery on site.

Whitelee windfarm is located on Eaglesham Moor in central Glasgow. Its 215 turbines generate up to 539 megawatts of electricity, enough to power 300,000 homes.

The planned battery storage center will support the National Grid in maintaining the resilience and stability of the electricity grid, even at times when the wind may not be blowing.

The battery storage site will be the size of half a football pitch and will comprise 50 MW of lithium-ion battery technology.

The battery will also enhance the capability of storing excess energy from wind generation at times when demand is low or wind is high – for instance at night, and released at the time of high demand and lower wind.

Local planning permission for the battery storage facility was granted by South Lanarkshire Council in May 2019.

Installation work is expected to start early in 2020 with the facility fully operational by the end of 2020.