Canadian storage player Amp Energy has revealed that its 800MW battery portfolio in Scotland has secured planning consent.
The portfolio is due to be operational in April 2024 and will comprise two 400MW battery facilities, each providing 800 megawatt-hours of energy storage capacity.
Following consultations with stakeholders and local councils the two sites in central Scotland that form Amp’s Scottish Green Battery Complex received planning consent from the Scottish Government Energy Consents Unit earlier this month.
The 400MW batteries will be the two largest grid-connected battery storage facilities in Europe.
The projects will provide reliable grid stability services and power management across the central belt of Scotland including Glasgow and Edinburgh.
The projects are to be located in Hunterston and Kincardine.
Over the coming years they are expected to enable up to 1750 gigawatt-hours per year of additional renewable energy to be generated in Scotland and transported to other regions of the UK, equivalent to enabling 500MW of offshore wind deployment.
The Hunterston and Kincardine projects are also participating in National Grid’s Scottish Stability Pathfinder 2 tender, which seeks to address voltage and stability issues faced by the UK electricity grid.
Amp’s facilities will deploy grid-forming inverter technology alongside two new synchronous condensers installations which also assist with grid stabilisation.
Amp co-founder and chief investment officer Paul Ezekiel said: “Amp’s development of strategically located, transmission-connected utility-scale batteries is helping the GB transmission network operator to provide UK citizens with a stable and secure carbon free electricity system.”
This investment continues Amp’s expansion into Europe which includes development and ownership of solar and wind with large-scale energy storage facilities in Spain and the UK, alongside development of several green hydrogen projects that complement its Asia-Pacific green hydrogen development activities.
The Scottish Green Battery Complex will be optimised and dispatched by Amp X, Amp’s proprietary AI-powered digital energy platform.