THE Scottish Government has given consent to a major renewable energy storage facility.
The Smeaton Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) – to the north of the existing Smeaton substation near Dalkeith in East Lothian – will store energy from renewable sources during periods of high supply and low demand.
The battery system will then release energy back into the grid at periods of low renewable generation, which should lower costs for customers overall and also reduce the amount of constraint payments paid to renewable generators.
Constraint payments are paid to wind farms to shut down during period of high generation if the grid does not have the capacity to handle the power. In 2022, a reported £806 million was paid to shut UK wind farms down, with the costs ultimately borne by the consumer.
Kona Energy, the firm behind the Smeaton BESS, said their battery site could help to “significantly” cut these payments – which they said the National Grid had estimated could hit £3 billion a year in 2029.
The Smeaton BESS will see around 100 energy storage containers, with a capacity of around 228 megawatts, built on land currently used for arable farming.
The Scottish Government's Energy Consents Unit announced it had green-lit the plans last week.
Andy Willis, Kona Energy’s founder, said: “This is fantastic news, adding to Kona’s growing portfolio of work. This project represents a significant step forward in decarbonising the UK’s electricity grid while providing tangible and real benefits in terms of cost reduction and energy security. We are eager to collaborate with investors and partners in order to deliver this project on a rapid timescale.
“Tackling constraint costs is vital in not only bringing down consumer bills and preventing the costly waste of clean generation, but also for retaining public trust in reaching net zero. The huge financial burden of prohibiting wind turbines from operating is becoming a more relevant topic in the wider debate – rightly so. Our industry must do more to tackle this, and projects such as the Smeaton BESS will help to significantly reduce the waste involved.
“Its strategic location will give it a unique role to play in drastically slashing constraint costs and consumer bills – that was one of the key reasons why our development team was so enthusiastic about the project’s potential.
"I'd like to thank the Scottish Government for their positive engagement on the project, and look forward to working with them again in the future in order to deliver our shared net zero goal."
