Gordon and Buchan
Gordon and Buchan was paid £120k last year to switch off its wind farms, because the wires south were full. That would cover every local household's electricity for 39 hours. A further 107 MW of approved clean power (mostly onshore wind) is still waiting to be built here: enough to supply a year's electricity to 83,000 homes. A 300 MW battery approved at Kintore Battery Energy Storage Project in 2025 would store power that is currently wasted; it has not been built.
Ranks 59 of 650 for clean power approved and not built; 19 of 19 among seats with visible switch-off payments.
What is stuck, and why
| Project and developer | Tech | Size | Why it is stuck |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Kintore Hydrogen Project, Kintore - Hydrogen PlantStatera Energy | Hydrogen | 3,000 MW | Approved a year ago — nothing has happened sinceWho can move it: the developer and the network company · planning ref APP/2024/1604 |
| Abbotshaugh Battery StorageIsland Green Power (IGP Solar 25 Limited) | Battery | 500 MW | Waiting 15 months for a planning decisionWho can move it: the Scottish Government (it decides big energy projects) · planning ref ECU00005224 |
| Rothienorman, Middleton of Blackhills - BESSBlackford Renewables Limited | Battery | 500 MW | Waiting 13 months for a planning decisionWho can move it: the Scottish Government (it decides big energy projects) · planning ref ECU00006121 |
| Kintore Battery Energy Storage ProjectAlcemi Storage Development Limited | Battery | 300 MW | Approved a year ago — nothing has happened sinceWho can move it: the developer and the network company · planning ref ECU00004756 |
| Womblehill Farm, Kintore - Battery Energy Storage SystemRE Projects Development (REPD) / Field | Battery | 200 MW | Waiting 13 months for a planning decisionWho can move it: the Scottish Government (it decides big energy projects) · planning ref ECU00005233 |
| Kinmuck Battery Energy StorageKinmuck Energy Storage Limited / Island Green Power | Battery | 105 MW | Cannot connect to the grid until 2027, 2 years after it was approvedWho can move it: the grid operator (NESO) and SSEN Transmission · earliest connection 2027 · planning ref ECU00004907 |
| Clashindarroch 2Vattenfall | Onshore wind | 77 MW67,000 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 ECU00002002 |
| Clashindarroch Wind Farm ExtensionInfinergy | Battery | 50 MW | Approved less than a year ago — nothing has happened sinceWho can move it: the developer and the network company · planning ref ECU00004695 |
| Kintore - Solar Photovoltaic ArrayMespil Solar Energy | Solar | 50 MW18,000 homes | Waiting 12 months for a planning decisionWho can move it: the Scottish Government (it decides big energy projects) · planning ref ECU00005245 |
| Kintore Substation, Leylodge - Battery Energy StorageXRE Gamma Limited / EDF | Battery | 50 MW | Approved a year ago — nothing has happened sinceWho can move it: the developer and the network company · planning ref APP/2023/1234 |
| Fairfield - Battery Energy Storage SystemGreen Switch Capital | Battery | 50 MW | Refused by Aberdeenshire Council in 2026Who can move it: Aberdeenshire Council · planning ref APP/2025/1015 |
| Middleton Of Potterton Farm - Battery Energy Storage SystemGreen Switch Capital (Qair) | Battery | 50 MW | Still in the grid queue review — no firm connection date yetWho can move it: the grid operator (NESO) · earliest connection 2029 · planning ref APP/2025/0313 |
Plus 20 smaller projects — see the full seat page.
Compared with its neighbours
| Constituency | Approved, not built | Running | Paid to switch off |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gordon and Buchan | 107 MW | 187 MW | £120k |
| Aberdeen North | 0.2 MW | 0.3 MW | not visible |
| West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine | 211 MW | 219 MW | not visible |
| Moray West, Nairn and Strathspey | 642 MW | 525 MW | £17m |
| Aberdeenshire North and Moray East | 215 MW | 122 MW | not visible |
Moray West, Nairn and Strathspey next door has 642 MW waiting, more than Gordon and Buchan's 107 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.