Lothian East
Lothian East was paid £3.2m last year to switch off its wind farms, because the wires south were full. That would cover every local household's electricity for 43 days. A further 0.4 MW of approved clean power (all solar) is still waiting to be built here: enough to supply a year's electricity to 200 homes. A 650 MW battery approved at Braxbess Battery Storage in 2025 would store power that is currently wasted; it has not been built.
Ranks 502 of 650 for clean power approved and not built; 11 of 19 among seats with visible switch-off payments.
What is stuck, and why
| Project and developer | Tech | Size | Why it is stuck |
|---|---|---|---|
| Braxbess Battery StorageBraxbess Limited | Battery | 650 MW | Approved a year ago — nothing has happened sinceWho can move it: the developer and the network company · planning ref ECU00004993 |
| Cockenzie Battery Storage System - Site AGresham House | Battery | 240 MW | Approved a year ago — nothing has happened sinceWho can move it: the developer and the network company · planning ref ECU00004926 |
| Smeaton Battery Energy Storage SystemKona Energy | Battery | 228 MW | Cannot connect to the grid until 2027, 3 years after it was approvedWho can move it: the grid operator (NESO) and SP Transmission · earliest connection 2027 · planning ref ECU00004783 |
| Springfield - Solar Farm & Battery Energy StorageVoltalia UK Limited | Solar | 165 MW60,000 homes | Waiting 14 months for a planning decisionWho can move it: the Scottish Government (it decides big energy projects) · planning ref ECU00004815 |
| Newlands Hill Wind Energy HubBelltown Power Limited | Onshore wind | 136 MW119,000 homes | Waiting 2.7 years for a planning decisionWho can move it: the Scottish Government (it decides big energy projects) · planning ref ECU00004603 |
| Newlands Hill Wind Energy HubBelltown Power Limited | Battery | 136 MW | Waiting 2.7 years for a planning decisionWho can move it: the Scottish Government (it decides big energy projects) · earliest connection 2030 · planning ref ECU00004603 |
| Cockenzie Battery Storage System - Site BGresham House | Battery | 102 MW | Approved a year ago — nothing has happened sinceWho can move it: the developer and the network company · planning ref ECU00006022 |
| Springfield - Solar Farm & Battery Energy StorageVoltalia UK Limited | Battery | 80 MW | Waiting 14 months for a planning decisionWho can move it: the Scottish Government (it decides big energy projects) · planning ref ECU00004815 |
| Dolphingstone Farm - Battery Energy Storage SystemRNA Energy Limited | Battery | 63 MW | 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 ECU00004969 |
| Dunbar Grid Substation - Battery StorageFRV TH Powertek Limited | Battery | 50 MW | Approved a year ago — nothing has happened sinceWho can move it: the developer and the network company · planning ref 23/01519/PM |
| Aikengall, Innerwick - Battery Energy StorageRedstone Rig Storage Limited | Battery | 20 MW | Approved a year ago — nothing has happened sinceWho can move it: the developer and the network company · planning ref 23/01071/P |
| Pencaitland Maltings - Boiler Hybrid Energy CentreBairds Malt Limited | Biomass (dedicated) | 7 MW | Waiting 22 months for a planning decisionWho can move it: East Lothian Council · planning ref 24/00877/P |
Compared with its neighbours
| Constituency | Approved, not built | Running | Paid to switch off |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lothian East | 0.4 MW | 216 MW | £3.2m |
| Midlothian | 4.2 MW | 0 MW | not visible |
| Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk | 85 MW | 685 MW | £7.0m |
| Edinburgh East and Musselburgh | 0.2 MW | 0.2 MW | not visible |
Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk next door has 85 MW waiting, more than Lothian East's 0.4 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.