Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock
Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock was paid £18m last year to switch off its wind farms, because the wires south were full. That would cover every local household's electricity for 233 days. A further 654 MW of approved clean power (almost all onshore wind) is still waiting to be built here: enough to supply a year's electricity to 571,000 homes. A 500 MW battery approved at Braston New Energy in 2025 would store power that is currently wasted; it has not been built. A 25 MW battery was refused planning here in 2023; while discharging it could have supplied about 88,000 homes.
Ranks 3 of 650 for clean power approved and not built; 3 of 19 among seats with visible switch-off payments.
What is stuck, and why
| Project and developer | Tech | Size | Why it is stuck |
|---|---|---|---|
| Braston New EnergyNew Energy Partnership | Battery | 500 MW | Approved a year ago — nothing has happened sinceWho can move it: the developer and the network company · planning ref ECU00004995 |
| North Kyle Energy ProjectBrockwell Energy | Onshore wind | 206 MW180,000 homes | Under constructionWho can move it: the developer · earliest connection 2027 (in construction) · planning ref ECU00001950 |
| Lethans Wind FarmOnPath Energy Limited | Onshore wind | 106 MW92,000 homes | Approved 5 years ago — nothing has happened sinceWho can move it: the developer and the network company · planning ref ECU00001856 |
| Clauchrie WindfarmScottishPower Renewables | Onshore wind | 100 MW87,000 homes | Refused by the Scottish Government (it decides big energy projects) in 2023Who can move it: the Scottish Government (it decides big energy projects) · planning ref ECU00002001 |
| Kilgallioch - Battery energy storageScottish Power Renewables | Battery | 100 MW | Approved 2 years ago — nothing has happened sinceWho can move it: the developer and the network company · planning ref ECU00002197 |
| Knockodhar Wind FarmREG Knockodhar Limited | Onshore wind | 100 MW87,000 homes | Waiting 3.2 years for a planning decisionWho can move it: the Scottish Government (it decides big energy projects) · earliest connection 2028 · planning ref ECU00002153 |
| Breezy Hill, North Kyle Forest Estate - Wind TurbinesBrockwell Energy Limited | Onshore wind | 100 MW87,000 homes | Waiting 15 months for a planning decisionWho can move it: the Scottish Government (it decides big energy projects) · planning ref ECU00005060 |
| Craiginmoddie Wind FarmEnergiekontor (UK) Limited | Onshore wind | 92 MW81,000 homes | Still in the grid queue review — no firm connection date yetWho can move it: the grid operator (NESO) · earliest connection 2031 · planning ref ECU00002196 |
| South Kyle Wind Farm 2Vattenfall | Onshore wind | 92 MW81,000 homes | Waiting 15 months for a planning decisionWho can move it: the Scottish Government (it decides big energy projects) · earliest connection 2030 · planning ref ECU00003429 |
| Carrick WindfarmScottishPower Renewables | Onshore wind | 86 MW75,000 homes | Waiting 4.7 years for a planning decisionWho can move it: the Scottish Government (it decides big energy projects) · earliest connection 2030 · planning ref ECU00003392 |
| Pencloe Wind FarmNorth British Wind / Invenergy | Onshore wind | 81 MW71,000 homes | Cleared the grid queue review, so it now has a firm connection dateWho can move it: the grid operator (NESO) · earliest connection 2028 · planning ref EC00003106 |
| Chirmorie Wind FarmCorolis Energy/ ESB | Onshore wind | 80 MW70,000 homes | Cleared the grid queue review, so it now has a firm connection dateWho can move it: the grid operator (NESO) · earliest connection 2027 · planning ref EC00002071 |
Plus 34 smaller projects — see the full seat page.
Compared with its neighbours
| Constituency | Approved, not built | Running | Paid to switch off |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock | 654 MW | 874 MW | £18m |
| Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale | 913 MW | 1,451 MW | £15m |
| Dumfries and Galloway | 560 MW | 695 MW | £11m |
| Central Ayrshire | 51 MW | 10 MW | not visible |
| Kilmarnock and Loudoun | 82 MW | 283 MW | £900k |
Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale next door has 913 MW waiting, more than Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock's 654 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.