Orkney and Shetland
Orkney and Shetland was paid £15m last year to switch off its wind farms, because the wires south were full. That would cover every local household's electricity for about 1.1 years. A further 333 MW of approved clean power (all onshore wind) is still waiting to be built here: enough to supply a year's electricity to 291,000 homes. A 15 MW battery approved at Luggies Knowe, Hill Of Gremista in 2025 would store power that is currently wasted; it has not been built.
Ranks 12 of 650 for clean power approved and not built; 6 of 19 among seats with visible switch-off payments.
What is stuck, and why
| Project and developer | Tech | Size | Why it is stuck |
|---|---|---|---|
| Energy Isles Wind FarmEnergy Isles / Stratcraft | Onshore wind | 126 MW110,000 homes | Cannot connect to the grid until 2032, 9 years after it was approvedWho can move it: the grid operator (NESO) and SSEN Transmission · earliest connection 2032 · planning ref ECU00001844 |
| Shetland Battery Energy Storage SystemZenobe Energy | Battery | 70 MW | Under constructionWho can move it: the developer · earliest connection 2027 (in construction) · planning ref ECU00004881 |
| Beaw Field Wind FarmPeel Wind Farms | Onshore wind | 60 MW52,000 homes | Cannot connect to the grid until 2032, 15 years after it was approvedWho can move it: the grid operator (NESO) and SSEN Transmission · earliest connection 2032 · planning ref EC00003121 |
| Mossy HillPeel Wind Farms (Peel Energy) | Onshore wind | 47 MW41,000 homes | Cannot connect to the grid until 2028, 9 years after it was approvedWho can move it: the grid operator (NESO) and SSEN Transmission · earliest connection 2028 · planning ref 2018/186/PPF |
| Orkney’s Community Wind Farm Project - FarayOrkney Islands Council | Onshore wind | 29 MW25,000 homes | Waiting 5.1 years for a planning decisionWho can move it: Orkney Islands Council · earliest connection 2030 · planning ref 21/240/TPPMAJ |
| Orkney’s Community Wind Farm Project - HoyOrkney Islands Council | Onshore wind | 29 MW25,000 homes | Cannot connect to the grid until 2028, 7 years after it was approvedWho can move it: the grid operator (NESO) and SSEN Transmission · earliest connection 2028 · planning ref 20/313/TPPMAJ |
| Orkney’s Community Wind Farm Project - QanternessOrkney Islands Council | Onshore wind | 29 MW25,000 homes | Cannot connect to the grid until 2028, 7 years after it was approvedWho can move it: the grid operator (NESO) and SSEN Transmission · earliest connection 2028 · planning ref 20/037/TPPMAJ |
| Nitshill Wind Farm, Hundland HillNisthill Wind Farm Limited | Onshore wind | 26 MW23,000 homes | Waiting 3.9 years for a planning decisionWho can move it: Orkney Islands Council · planning ref 22/320/TPPMAJ |
| Greentoft, Neven Point, Eday - Wind Turbines & BESSGreen Power (International) Limited | Onshore wind | 24 MW21,000 homes | Waiting 13 months for a planning decisionWho can move it: Orkney Islands Council · planning ref 25/203/TPPMAJ |
| Hesta Head Wind FarmHoolan Energy/ Hesta Head Wind Farm | Onshore wind | 20 MW18,000 homes | Cannot connect to the grid until 2029, 10 years after it was approvedWho can move it: the grid operator (NESO) and SSEN Transmission · earliest connection 2029 · planning ref 17/083/TPPMAJ |
| Costa Head Wind FarmHoolan Energy | Onshore wind | 16 MW14,000 homes | Cannot connect to the grid until 2029, 10 years after it was approvedWho can move it: the grid operator (NESO) and SSEN Transmission · earliest connection 2029 · planning ref 16/580/TPPMAJ |
| Luggies Knowe, Hill Of Gremista - Wind Turbines & Battery StorageShetland Aerogenerators Ltd | Battery | 15 MW | Approved a year ago — nothing has happened sinceWho can move it: the developer and the network company · planning ref 2024/006/PPF |
Plus 8 smaller projects — see the full seat page.
Compared with its neighbours
| Constituency | Approved, not built | Running | Paid to switch off |
|---|---|---|---|
| Orkney and Shetland | 333 MW | 493 MW | £15m |
| Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross | 938 MW | 1,306 MW | £36m |
| Aberdeenshire North and Moray East | 215 MW | 122 MW | not visible |
| Gordon and Buchan | 107 MW | 187 MW | £120k |
Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross next door has 938 MW waiting, more than Orkney and Shetland's 333 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.