The largest liquid air energy facility in the world is set to be created in Ayrshire after Highview Power announced it would develop its Hunterston project in Scotland.
The plant at Hunterston power station near West Kilbride will deliver five times Scotland’s current operational battery storage capacity and is strategically placed in the grid transmission network to maximise the use of Scottish-produced renewable electricity.
John Swinney met with executives from Highview Power at Scotland House in London yesterday and the First Minister is delighted that the project will be introduced to the country, and believes there is a ‘unique environment’ for innovation in Scotland.
The project is supported by the Scottish Government and Hunterson is the first in Highland Power’s second phase, comprising four different projects across Scotland and Nothern England.
The 2.5GWh LAES plant at Hunterston will deliver enough power for 650,000 homes for 12.5 hours.
Speaking after the meeting, Mr Swinney said: “The creation of the largest liquid air energy facility in the world, in Ayrshire, demonstrates just how valuable Scotland is in delivering a low carbon future as well as supporting the global transition to net zero, said John Swinney, following the meeting.
“Scotland presents a unique environment for innovation and deployment of storage technologies and this ground-breaking project will bring hundreds of high skilled jobs to the region both during construction and afterwards in supporting the supply chain.”
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Highview Power has already successfully secured the developing rights for Hunterston, which is located on Peels Ports site in North Ayrshire and the plant will be built in two separate stages.
The first will be the grid connection and works to provide grid stability services with the second being a full LAES build-out, with the planning process for the second phase starting now.
It’s also expected to support 1,000 jobs onside during construction and 650 jobs in the supply chain.
Richard Butland, the chief executive at Highview Power, said: “We were delighted to meet the First Minister today, and thrilled to announce our next project in Hunterston, the first of four, which kick starts our multi-billion-pound LDES programme across the UK to unlock 10GWh of LDES.
“This project will be transformational for Scotland in providing critical storage for offshore wind and solving grid constraints as well as delivering major investment in Ayrshire, and the wider region.”
Chris O’Shea, Centrica’s Group Chief Executive, added: “It is fantastic to see our partners at Highview Power expanding with their new project at Hunterston.
“Long Duration Energy Storage will be vital to unlocking the UK’s energy potential, and Highview’s technology will be a key part of that. With innovation and investment, the UK will achieve its ambitious net zero goals.”
Julian Leslie, Director of Strategic Energy Planning and Chief Engineer, NESO, said: “Technology such as Highview Power’s LDES proposals will quite simply unlock the power of renewable energy in our energy system, stabilise our grid system, and allow for the delivery of a 100% zero carbon electricity system. In our Holistic Transition Pathway, we have identified a 81GWh requirement for LDES by 2030 to decarbonise the grid and this announcement paves the way to realise this goal.”
Highview Power’s programme of four is also set to include a project in Aberdeenshire, strategically positioned to support the onshoring of renewable energy resources from the North Sea and the critical need for grid stability at this location.
There will be further details on the next phase of that in the coming months, with the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero’s recently announcing an investment support scheme will provide further momentum to technologies such as Highview Power’s helping to unlock investment and accelerate decarbonisation plans.
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