Airdrie and Shotts
Airdrie and Shotts was paid £2.3m last year to switch off its wind farms, because the wires south were full. That would cover every local household's electricity for 31 days. A further 24 MW of approved clean power (almost all onshore wind) is still waiting to be built here: enough to supply a year's electricity to 20,000 homes. A 300 MW battery approved at Newarthill Energy Park in 2025 would store power that is currently wasted; it has not been built.
Ranks 185 of 650 for clean power approved and not built; 14 of 19 among seats with visible switch-off payments.
What is stuck, and why
| Project and developer | Tech | Size | Why it is stuck |
|---|---|---|---|
| Newarthill Energy ParkGeocore Limited | Battery | 300 MW | Cleared the grid queue review, so it now has a firm connection dateWho can move it: the grid operator (NESO) · earliest connection 2029 · planning ref ECU00004953 |
| North Lanrigg Energy StorageNorth Lanrigg Battery Storage Limited | Battery | 200 MW | Cannot connect to the grid until 2028, 3 years after it was approvedWho can move it: the grid operator (NESO) and SP Transmission · earliest connection 2028 · planning ref ECU00005166 |
| Fernishaw Solar Farm & Battery Energy Storage FacilityElgin Energy (EEB67) | Solar | 75 MW27,000 homes | Approved a year ago — nothing has happened sinceWho can move it: the developer and the network company · planning ref ECU00004871 |
| Locks Street, Coatdyke - Battery Energy Storage SystemsBluestone Energy | Battery | 45 MW | Applied in 2025, still waiting for a decisionWho can move it: North Lanarkshire Council · planning ref 25/00935/FUL |
| Biggar Road, Cleland - Battery Energy Storage SystemStarlight Energy SPV 1 Limited | Battery | 30 MW | Approved a year ago — nothing has happened sinceWho can move it: the developer and the network company · planning ref 24/00810/FUL |
| Torrance Wind Farm Extension 2Infinergy | Onshore wind | 26 MW23,000 homes | Refused by North Lanarkshire Council in 2025Who can move it: North Lanarkshire Council · planning ref 23/00256/FUL |
| Fernishaw Solar Farm & Battery Energy Storage FacilityElgin Energy (EEB67) | Battery | 25 MW | Approved a year ago — nothing has happened sinceWho can move it: the developer and the network company · planning ref ECU00004871 |
| West Benhar Road, Eastfield, Harthill - Wind TurbinesPremarket Developments Limted | Onshore wind | 20 MW17,000 homes | Waiting 12 months for a planning decisionWho can move it: North Lanarkshire Council · planning ref 25/00637/FUL |
| Forrestfield Wind FarmWest Cost Energy | Onshore wind | 13 MW12,000 homes | Waiting 11.1 years for a planning decisionWho can move it: North Lanarkshire Council · earliest connection 2026 · planning ref 15/01411/FUL |
| Dewshill Wind FarmWind Estate (UK) Ltd | Onshore wind | 9 MW7,900 homes | Approved 2 years ago — nothing has happened sinceWho can move it: the developer and the network company · planning ref 23/00379/FUL |
| Brownhill FarmWind Estate | Onshore wind | 8.4 MW7,300 homes | Under constructionWho can move it: the developer · earliest connection 2027 (in construction) · planning ref 20/00504/FUL |
Plus 11 smaller projects — see the full seat page.
Compared with its neighbours
| Constituency | Approved, not built | Running | Paid to switch off |
|---|---|---|---|
| Airdrie and Shotts | 24 MW | 82 MW | £2.3m |
| Livingston | 118 MW | 116 MW | not visible |
| Bathgate and Linlithgow | 46 MW | 9.8 MW | not visible |
| Motherwell, Wishaw and Carluke | 80 MW | 215 MW | £2.4m |
| Coatbridge and Bellshill | 0.6 MW | 0.2 MW | not visible |
| Cumbernauld and Kirkintilloch | 1.2 MW | 0 MW | not visible |
Livingston next door has 118 MW waiting, more than Airdrie and Shotts's 24 MW.
The rest of the briefing
- Every approval each project still needs, and which of them the public can see
- What building them would mean here — community payments, business rates and construction work
- 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
Everything above needs no account, and neither does the full seat page, the method or this constituency's raw data. The account covers the packaged briefing and its PDF, and nothing else.