Argyll, Bute and South Lochaber
Argyll, Bute and South Lochaber was paid £1.7m last year to switch off its wind farms, because the wires south were full. That would cover every local household's electricity for 21 days. A further 384 MW of approved clean power (almost all onshore wind) is still waiting to be built here: enough to supply a year's electricity to 338,000 homes. A 56 MW battery approved at High Constellation Wind Farm in 2020 would store power that is currently wasted; it has not been built. A 50 MW battery was refused planning here in 2024; while discharging it could have supplied about 175,000 homes.
Ranks 10 of 650 for clean power approved and not built; 15 of 19 among seats with visible switch-off payments.
What is stuck, and why
| Project and developer | Tech | Size | Why it is stuck |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cruachan Hydro ExpansionDrax Power Limited / Stantec UK | Pumped Storage Hydroelectricity | 600 MW | Cannot connect to the grid until 2030, 7 years after it was approvedWho can move it: the grid operator (NESO) and SP Transmission · earliest connection 2030 · planning ref ECU00004492 |
| Cnoc Buidhe WindfarmBelltown Power Limited | Onshore wind | 191 MW167,000 homes | Waiting 16 months for a planning decisionWho can move it: the Scottish Government (it decides big energy projects) · planning ref ECU00004767 |
| Sheirdrim Renewable Energy Development - WindScottishPower Renewables | Onshore wind | 114 MW100,000 homes | Refused by the Scottish Government (it decides big energy projects) in 2023Who can move it: the planning appeal inspector · planning ref ECU00001957 |
| Cnoc Buidhe WindfarmBelltown Power Limited | Battery | 109 MW | Waiting 16 months for a planning decisionWho can move it: the Scottish Government (it decides big energy projects) · planning ref ECU00004767 |
| Loch Awe - Eredine Wind FarmRWE Renewables UK Limited | Onshore wind | 100 MW87,000 homes | Waiting 20 months for a planning decisionWho can move it: the Scottish Government (it decides big energy projects) · planning ref ECU00004517 |
| Sloy Hydroelectric Power Station - Pumped Hydro ConversionScottish & Southern Energy Renewables | Pumped Storage Hydroelectricity | 100 MW | Waiting 18 months for a planning decisionWho can move it: the Scottish Government (it decides big energy projects) · planning ref ECU00006088 |
| Corr Chnoc Wind FarmGalileo Green Energy Scotland Limited | Onshore wind | 86 MW76,000 homes | Waiting 17 months for a planning decisionWho can move it: the Scottish Government (it decides big energy projects) · planning ref ECU00006023 |
| Rowan Wind FarmEnergiekontor UK Limited | Onshore wind | 86 MW75,000 homes | Approved 2 years ago — nothing has happened sinceWho can move it: the developer and the network company · planning ref ECU00003230 |
| An Carr Dubh Wind FarmStatkraft UK Limited | Onshore wind | 86 MW75,000 homes | Waiting 3.4 years for a planning decisionWho can move it: the Scottish Government (it decides big energy projects) · planning ref ECU00004781 |
| Blarghour Wind FarmCoriolis Energy / ESB | Onshore wind | 84 MW73,000 homes | Cannot connect to the grid until 2029, 8 years after it was approvedWho can move it: the grid operator (NESO) and SSEN Transmission · earliest connection 2029 · planning ref EC00005267 |
| Tangy 4 Wind FarmScottish & Southern (SSE) | Onshore wind | 80 MW70,000 homes | Approved 7 years ago — nothing has happened sinceWho can move it: the developer and the network company · planning ref ECU00000673 |
| Earraghail Renewable Energy DevelopmentScottishPower Renewables | Onshore wind | 78 MW68,000 homes | Waiting 4.4 years for a planning decisionWho can move it: the Scottish Government (it decides big energy projects) · planning ref ECU00003421 |
Plus 35 smaller projects — see the full seat page.
Compared with its neighbours
| Constituency | Approved, not built | Running | Paid to switch off |
|---|---|---|---|
| Argyll, Bute and South Lochaber | 384 MW | 460 MW | £1.7m |
| West Dunbartonshire | 0.5 MW | 0 MW | not visible |
| Stirling and Strathallan | 52 MW | 193 MW | not visible |
| Angus and Perthshire Glens | 143 MW | 345 MW | £3.4m |
| Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire | 453 MW | 1,272 MW | £41m |
Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire next door has 453 MW waiting, more than Argyll, Bute and South Lochaber's 384 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.