CONSTITUENCY BRIEFING · ENERGYMAP.APP
Argyll, Bute and South Lochaber
Argyll, Bute and South Lochaber was paid £1.7m last year to switch off its wind farms, because the wires south were full. That would cover every local household's electricity for 21 days. A further 384 MW of approved clean power (almost all onshore wind) is still waiting to be built here: enough to supply a year's electricity to 338,000 homes. A 56 MW battery approved at High Constellation Wind Farm in 2020 would store power that is currently wasted; it has not been built. A 50 MW battery was refused planning here in 2024; while discharging it could have supplied about 175,000 homes.
Ranks 10 of 650 for clean power approved and not built; 15 of 19 among seats with visible switch-off payments.
What is stuck, and why
| Project and developer | Tech | Size | Why it is stuck |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cruachan Hydro ExpansionDrax Power Limited / Stantec UK | Pumped Storage Hydroelectricity | 600 MW |
Cannot connect to the grid until 2030, 7 years after it was approvedWho can move it: the grid operator (NESO) and SP Transmission |
| Cnoc Buidhe WindfarmBelltown Power Limited | Onshore wind | 167,000 homes 191 MW |
Waiting 1.3 years for a planning decisionWho can move it: the Scottish Government (it decides big energy projects) |
| Sheirdrim Renewable Energy Development - WindScottishPower Renewables | Onshore wind | 100,000 homes 114 MW |
Refused by the Scottish Government (it decides big energy projects) in 2023Who can move it: the planning appeal inspector |
What else is in the briefing
- All 47 projects, each with its planning reference and the organisation that holds the next decision
- Every approval a project still needs, and which of them the public can see
- What building them would mean here — community payments, business rates and construction work
- How Argyll, Bute and South Lochaber compares with its neighbouring constituencies
- Drafted parliamentary questions and letters, filled in with this seat's figures
- 3 story angles for local reporting
- A two-page PDF, and a newsroom edition with the references and who to call
No account needed for any of this:
the full seat page with every figure,
the method and sources,
and this constituency's raw data.
The account covers the packaged briefing only.