The project will combine 40MW of solar PV capacity and a 9MW battery energy storage system (BESS) and will connect to the grid via the Currie Substation in Edinburgh.
October 9, 2026
The West Lothian Council planning committee has approved the Kirknewton solar-plus-storage project, to be built in the village of Kirknewton just west of Edinburgh.
The project will combine 40MW of solar PV capacity and a 9MW battery energy storage system (BESS) and will connect to the grid via the Currie Substation in Edinburgh. Developer BLC Energy said that it expects consturct4ion at the project to take six months, and that it has a grid connection date of 2030. BLC is owned by TRIO Power, which is owned by the Octopus Renewable Infrastructure Trust, a fund managed by Octopus Energy Generation.
The project also includes a community benefit fund that will be worth £26,000 annually for the 40-year lifespan of the project, and be controlled by a “community liaison group“ comprised of local councillors. John Sives, chair of the Kirknewton Community Council, said that approval for the new project was unanimous, and that the council was “very pleased at the level of community benefit” that the project will deliver.
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“We believe those living closest to any development should benefit most, so we are investigating the potential of establishing a local energy discount scheme to offer the nearest households reduced energy bills,” added BLC managing director Neil Lindsay.
The approval of the West Lothian Council follows the Perth and Kinross Council granting approval for another BLC project, the 39MW Binn Solar and BESS project, which took place in July. At the time, Lindsay said that the Binn facility is “exactly” the kind of project that the UK will need to meet its clean energy deployment targets and improve energy security.
Battery storage projects are often descrived as an effective way to deliver energy security—particularly in the UK where securing a grid connection has historically been a lengthy and convoluted process—and a number of BESS projects have advanced in Scotland this year. Chief among them is the 1GWh Coalburn 1 project, a 2-hour lithium-ion project at which commercial operations begin in August.
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JP Casey
Section Editor, Informa
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