Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross
Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross was paid £36m last year to switch off its wind farms, because the wires south were full. That would cover every local household's electricity for about 1.2 years. A further 938 MW of approved clean power (almost all onshore wind) is still waiting to be built here: enough to supply a year's electricity to 819,000 homes. A 300 MW battery approved at Philips Mains, Mey in 2026 would store power that is currently wasted; it has not been built.
Ranks 1 of 650 for clean power approved and not built; 2 of 19 among seats with visible switch-off payments.
What is stuck, and why
| Project and developer | Tech | Size | Why it is stuck |
|---|---|---|---|
| Titan Battery StorageGreen Switch Capital Limited | Battery | 500 MW | Applied in 2025, still waiting for a decisionWho can move it: the Scottish Government (it decides big energy projects) · planning ref ECU00005199 |
| Philips Mains, Mey - Battery Energy StorageAmpeak Energy | Battery | 300 MW | Approved less than a year ago — nothing has happened sinceWho can move it: the developer and the network company · planning ref ECU00004838 |
| Spittal Mains, Spittal - Battery Energy Storage SystemField Spittal Limited | Battery | 300 MW | Waiting 19 months for a planning decisionWho can move it: the Scottish Government (it decides big energy projects) · planning ref ECU00005116 |
| Upper Bighouse Biomass BoilersUpper Bighouse Farm | Biomass (dedicated) | 260 MW | Waiting 5.5 years for a planning decisionWho can move it: Highland Council · planning ref 21/00334/FUL |
| Invershin Community Hall - Wind Farm & Battery StorageGarvary Wind Farm Limited | Onshore wind | 222 MW194,000 homes | Approved a year ago — nothing has happened sinceWho can move it: the developer and the network company · planning ref ECU00003251 |
| Strathy SouthScottish and Southern Energy (SSE) | Onshore wind | 208 MW182,000 homes | Cannot connect to the grid until 2027, 9 years after it was approvedWho can move it: the grid operator (NESO) and SSEN Transmission · earliest connection 2027 · planning ref EC00003113 |
| Inveroykel Wind FarmRWE Renewables UK Swindon Limited | Onshore wind | 191 MW167,000 homes | Still in the grid queue review — no firm connection date yetWho can move it: the grid operator (NESO) · earliest connection 2031 · planning ref ECU00005210 |
| Achies - Battery Energy Storage SystemSun4net Limited | Battery | 162 MW | Waiting 14 months for a planning decisionWho can move it: the Scottish Government (it decides big energy projects) · earliest connection 2037 · planning ref ECU00006111 |
| Ballach Wind FarmEnergiekontor (UK) Limited | Onshore wind | 144 MW126,000 homes | Cannot connect to the grid until 2037Who can move it: the grid operator (NESO) and SSEN Transmission · earliest connection 2037 · planning ref ECU00005219 |
| Coille Linne Wind Farm- Wind TurbinesEnergiekontor (UK) Limited | Onshore wind | 108 MW95,000 homes | Waiting 14 months for a planning decisionWho can move it: the Scottish Government (it decides big energy projects) · earliest connection 2037 · planning ref ECU00005163 |
| Shinness Wind FarmShinness Wind Farm Limited | Onshore wind | 106 MW92,000 homes | Waiting 2.3 years for a planning decisionWho can move it: the Scottish Government (it decides big energy projects) · planning ref ECU00004597 |
| Shinness Wind FarmShinness Wind Farm Limited | Battery | 105 MW | Waiting 2.3 years for a planning decisionWho can move it: the Scottish Government (it decides big energy projects) · planning ref ECU00004597 |
Plus 75 smaller projects — see the full seat page.
Compared with its neighbours
| Constituency | Approved, not built | Running | Paid to switch off |
|---|---|---|---|
| Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross | 938 MW | 1,306 MW | £36m |
| Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire | 453 MW | 1,272 MW | £41m |
Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross has more approved-and-waiting capacity than any of its neighbouring seats.
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.