CONSTITUENCY BRIEFING · ENERGYMAP.APP
Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire
Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire was paid £41m last year to switch off its wind farms, because the wires south were full. That would cover every local household's electricity for about 1.3 years. A further 453 MW of approved clean power (almost all onshore wind) is still waiting to be built here: enough to supply a year's electricity to 398,000 homes. A 200 MW battery approved at Knocknagael, Essich in 2026 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 9 of 650 for clean power approved and not built; 1 of 19 among seats with visible switch-off payments.
What is stuck, and why
| Project and developer | Tech | Size | Why it is stuck |
|---|---|---|---|
| Glen Earrach Pumped Storage HydroGlen Earrach Energy Limited | Pumped Storage Hydroelectricity | 2,000 MW |
Waiting 1.3 years for a planning decisionWho can move it: the Scottish Government (it decides big energy projects) |
| Fearna Pumped Storage Hydro Scheme - Hydro ProjectFearna PSH Limited (SSE Renewables) | Pumped Storage Hydroelectricity | 1,800 MW |
Waiting 1.4 years for a planning decisionWho can move it: the Scottish Government (it decides big energy projects) |
| Moy Lodge, Tulloch - Earba Pumped Storage HydroGilkes Energy Ltd | Pumped Storage Hydroelectricity | 1,800 MW |
Approved a year ago — nothing has happened sinceWho can move it: the developer and the network company |
What else is in the briefing
- All 53 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 Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire 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.