Corriemoillie Substation Energy Storage
Consultation events: Wednesday 6th and 20th September both 3 – 7pm, Lochluichart Community Hall, IV23 2PZ
Why is it needed?
- Scotland has a Target of Net Zero by 2045.
- Renewable energy is intermittent, this means we can’t always rely on it to meet demand.
- Fossil fuel generators coal gas and nuclear make up the difference, as these go offline, we need to be able to meet that demand.
- Energy storage lets us store renewable energy for when it is needed.
- National Grid ESO have estimated we need up to 37GW of energy storage by 2050.
- The Scottish Energy Strategy, published 2018, supports new energy storage capacity. It states that the Scottish Government will continue to support innovation and deployment in storage and to work to accelerate its penetration across Scotland.
Why in this location?
- The land is located close to the existing Corriemoillie Substation and there is available capacity at the grid supply point
- Across Scotland there are few grid locations that can accept this level of power
- The site is expected to be largely hidden within the existing woodland
- The site lies around 6km north west of Garve, in woodland north of the A836 road
- The closest dwellings are around 600m south east of the site
Location plan
What will be on the site?
- Battery storage units
- Transmission compound
- Meter building
- Stores
- Retention pond
- Fencing, habitat enhancement, planting of native trees
Site Layout
What equipment will be on site and what will it look like?
Energy Storage Units
- Array of energy storage cubes
- Around 3m high
- Sealed batteries
Meter Building
- A building will house switchgear, electricity metering, control equipment and health and safety equipment
- No all night lighting on site
- Dark green colour
- Metal shed building
HV Equipment
- High Voltage transformer and breakers
Fencing and Security
- New planting, of native trees and habitat enhancements
- Steel security fence
- Security cameras
Q & A
What is the safety of the batteries and do they hold a fire risk?
The facility would be built to all current safety standards and legislation. As a fixed installation, the system would be designed with multiple safety systems and would be constantly monitored. Fire is a risk for any installation, home or business. The facility will be designed to prevent the circumstances that could lead to a fire and were a fire to occur for it to be contained and extinguished.
When would the project be built?
This would likely not be for a number of years. The project would undertake consultations, assessments and surveys, then a Planning consent process, then lead times for the ordering of equipment, finally the National Grid needs to schedule the connection to the grid.
Will there be lighting at night?
No. No dusk to dawn lighting is proposed as part of the facility. There would be infrared security lights, and there would be lighting for maintenance personnel to use when undertaking maintenance in the hours of darkness which is expected to be rare as the facility would generally be unstaffed and maintenance would generally happen in daylight.
Will the project produce noise?
The energy storage equipment produces some noise on account of cooling fans and electrical transformers which produce some ‘hum’. This is expected to be at a low level that would not give disturbance at surrounding properties. A technical assessment of noise issues will be produced as part of the project and it is expected that strict noise limits would be imposed on the project by the Council.
How far does 200MW go?
The average Scottish household uses around 3800kWh (kilowatt-hour) of electricity annually. The 200 megawatts (MW) facility would be able to power over 400,000 homes for 2 hours.
LoganPM are engineers for the project and are handling the consultations. Established in 2010, LoganPM has been involved in a great number of renewable and battery energy storage projects all around the country.
