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.
Ranks 79 of 650 for clean power approved and not built; 16 of 19 among seats with visible switch-off payments.
What is stuck, and why
| Project and developer | Tech | Size | Why it is stuck |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kilmarnock Battery Energy Storage SystemMatrix Renewables | Battery | 500 MW |
Cleared the grid queue review, so it now has a firm connection dateWho can move it: the grid operator (NESO) |
| Holmquarry Road - Battery StorageBig Battery (Holmquarry Road) Limited | Battery | 60 MW |
Cannot connect to the grid until 2026, 1 years after it was approvedWho can move it: the grid operator (NESO) and SP Transmission |
| Inchbean Farm, Treeswoodhead Road - Battery Energy SRNA Energy Limited | Battery | 60 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 8 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 Kilmarnock and Loudoun 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