Scottish ministers have approved plans for a 342MW transmission-linked battery energy storage (BESS) system in South Lanarkshire.
The Red Moss BESS project was submitted to the Scottish Energy Consents Unit (ECU) by Qair UK, previously known as Green Switch Capital. It is the company’s first Section 36 consent.
Qair Group acquired a majority stake in Green Switch Capital in August 2024 and renamed the British renewable energy developer Qair UK.
The approved site will include 148 battery storage units and the construction of a new 132 kV substation, the Redshaw Substation. The location of the 342MW Red Moss BESS in South Lanarkshire will allow excess electricity to be stored that would otherwise be restricted at the Scotland-England border.
In July this year, Qair UK received approval for its first standalone BESS projectthe 49.9 MW Middleton Farm Energy Storage Facility in Aberdeenshire, which, because its size is just below the 50 MW threshold set out in the Scottish Electricity Act, did not require ECU consent and was permitted by the local authority.
Geographically, Scotland is a competitive area for BESS development due to the large amounts of wind energy in the country that cannot be exported across the border to England due to the insufficient transmission network.
One way to mitigate this is to provide large-scale BESS, to store and release excess electricity generated by wind power plants when needed.
Two others large-scale BESS projects were approved by the ECU for South Lanarkshire in AprilApatura’s 50MW/100MWh BESS near East Kilbride, and one from Zenobē, which could have installed up to 200MW capacity.
