Kilmarnock and Loudoun
Kilmarnock and Loudoun was paid £900k last year to switch off its wind farms, because the wires south were full. That would cover every local household's electricity for 11 days. A further 82 MW of approved clean power (almost all onshore wind) is still waiting to be built here: enough to supply a year's electricity to 71,000 homes. A 500 MW battery approved at Kilmarnock Battery Energy Storage System 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sneddon Law Community Wind Farm | Wind Onshore | 39,000 homes | 45.0 MW | 2013-02 | 13.4 yrs |
| Hare Craig Windfarm | Wind Onshore | 31,000 homes | 36.0 MW | 2022-07 | 4.1 yrs |
| Cummnock Waste Water Treatment Works - Solar Panels | Solar Photovoltaics | 200 homes | 0.5 MW | 2023-06 | 3.1 yrs |
| Auldhouseburn Farm, Muirkirk - Solar Panels | Solar Photovoltaics | 100 homes | 0.2 MW | 2023-05 | 3.2 yrs |
| Kilmarnock Academy, Elmbank Drive - Solar PV System | Solar Photovoltaics | 100 homes | 0.2 MW | 2023-11 | 2.7 yrs |
| Moorfield North Industrial Park, Moorfield | Solar Photovoltaics | — | — MW | 2021-03 | 5.4 yrs |
Plus 2 more approved within the last two years.
Batteries
| Site | Size | Status | While discharging |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kilmarnock Battery Energy Storage System | 500 MW | approved, not built 2025 | could supply ≈1,752,000 homes |
| Kilmarnock South Substation - Battery storage | 300 MW | could supply ≈1,051,000 homes | |
| Holmquarry Road - Battery Storage | 60 MW | approved, not built 2025 | could supply ≈212,000 homes |
| Inchbean Farm, Treeswoodhead Road - Battery Energy Storage System | 60 MW | approved, not built 2025 | could supply ≈210,000 homes |
| Hare Craig Windfarm | 14 MW | approved, not built 2022 | could supply ≈49,000 homes |
Wind farms paid to switch off
| Site | Paid, 12 months | Energy lost | Confidence |
|---|---|---|---|
| Whitelee Windfarm Extension phase 2 | £450k | a year of 2,100 homes' electricity | high |
| Whitelee Windfarm Extension Phase 1 | £450k | a year of 2,100 homes' electricity | high |
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 Lillian Jones said about the grid in Parliament? Search Hansard →