ScottishPower Renewables has been granted full planning permission for its Hollandmey energy project, which will combine solar, energy storage and wind power on a single site in Caithness, Scotland.
The project, which will be located just eight kilometers south of John o’ Groats, will house ten wind turbines with a total capacity of 50 MW, plus a 15 MW solar project and a 15 MW battery energy storage system (BESS).
To deliver biodiversity benefits to the area, the developers will restore 168 hectares of peat habitat to its original state, creating habitats for many local plant and animal species. In addition, ScottishPower is launching a Community Benefit Fund, which will provide £50,000 of funding to develop the electric vehicle network in the Scottish Highlands.
Gillian Noble, managing director, onshore origination and development at ScottishPower Renewables said: “We have received consent for our Hollandmey project – by building onshore wind, solar and batteries together we can maximize the electricity we can generate on site. generate. and delivering to homes and businesses across the UK.”
The sun is shining on the Highlands
While Scotland’s solar sector is dwarfed by its vast wind power capacity, several recent planning approvals in storage are making Scotland a hotspot for BESS developments.
Apatura recently secured planning permission for a 700 MW BESS project in Inverclyde, which will become Scotland’s largest standalone BESS, while XRE Gamma and Scala Renewables Group were able to overcome local opposition and gain planning permission for their 49.9 MW development near Kintore.
Meanwhile, Kona Energy scored a huge win earlier this month when the Scottish Government’s Energy Consents Unit granted consent for its 228MW/456MWh Smeaton BESS in East Lothian.
There have been some attempts to boost Scotland’s solar sector by developers and trade groups; Solar Energy Scotland recently published a statement seeking to dispel the myth of solar farms as a threat to food security. Greencat Renewables is also hoping to boost Britain’s slow-moving floating solar sector, after submitting early planning documents for a proposed development at Cavendish Dock in the Port of Barrow.
A version of this article was originally published on our sister site, Current±.
