Airdrie and Shotts
Airdrie and Shotts was paid £2.3m last year to switch off its wind farms, because the wires south were full. That would cover every local household's electricity for 31 days. A further 24 MW of approved clean power (almost all onshore wind) is still waiting to be built here: enough to supply a year's electricity to 20,000 homes. A 300 MW battery approved at Newarthill Energy Park in 2025 would store power that is currently wasted; it has not been built.
The waiting list
Every approved, unbuilt project
| Site | Technology | Enough for | Capacity | Approved | Waiting |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dewshill Wind Farm | Wind Onshore | 7,900 homes | 9.0 MW | 2024-06 | 2.1 yrs |
| Brownhill Farm | Wind Onshore | 7,300 homes | 8.4 MW | 2020-07 | 6.0 yrs |
| Southrigg 2 | Wind Onshore | 3,700 homes | 4.2 MW | 2019-07 | 7.0 yrs |
| Brakes, Edinburgh Road - Solar Panels | Solar Photovoltaics | 500 homes | 1.4 MW | 2023-06 | 3.2 yrs |
| Brew Dog Brewery, Condor Glen - Solar Panels | Solar Photovoltaics | 500 homes | 1.3 MW | 2023-05 | 3.2 yrs |
Plus 5 more approved within the last two years.
Batteries
| Site | Size | Status | While discharging |
|---|---|---|---|
| Newarthill Energy Park | 300 MW | approved, not built 2025 | could supply ≈1,051,000 homes |
| North Lanrigg Energy Storage | 200 MW | approved, not built 2025 | could supply ≈701,000 homes |
| Locks Street, Coatdyke - Battery Energy Storage Systems | 45 MW | in planning | could supply ≈158,000 homes |
| Biggar Road, Cleland - Battery Energy Storage System | 30 MW | approved, not built 2025 | could supply ≈105,000 homes |
| Fernishaw Solar Farm & Battery Energy Storage Facility | 25 MW | approved, not built 2025 | could supply ≈88,000 homes |
Wind farms paid to switch off
| Site | Paid, 12 months | Energy lost | Confidence |
|---|---|---|---|
| Greengairs East Wind Farm | £2.3m | a year of 13,000 homes' electricity | medium |
What this page does not show
The switch-off figure covers the big wind farms on the national grid only; smaller farms on the local grid are switched off invisibly, so it is a floor. Offshore wind is counted nationally, never per seat. The planning database can run a quarter behind reality.
Electricity does not travel from a particular project to particular houses. Everything generated goes into the national grid and everyone draws from that shared pool, so "enough for X homes" is a way of sizing the electricity — not a claim that these homes would be powered by this site. Battery storage is counted separately from generation: it moves power in time rather than making it.
Planning statuses come from the government's planning database (REPD), which records what was decided and when, but not why. Where a project was refused we say so and name the authority; for the reasons, look up the planning reference on that council's own register. How to check any figure on this page →
What has Kenneth Stevenson said about the grid in Parliament? Search Hansard →