Project updates

This document provides a summary of the Coylton Greener Grid Park proposal, setting out information on the project and some of the additional benefits, including biodiversity enhancements and a community benefit fund. It includes no new information.

Click here to read the full briefing document.

We were pleased to welcome visitors to our Information Day at the Ochiltree Community Hub. The event which was initially scheduled for 23 January was postponed to 13 February due to adverse weather warnings (Storm Jocelyn).

At the event, local residents were able to view our proposals, ask the development team questions, and give their feedback. Information Day materials were also made available to view on our website from 23 January for those who couldn’t attend in person. 

We will be re-scheduling in the near future and keep you updated.

Please get in touch with us if you have any questions 

Background:

Statkraft received consent for Coylton Greener Grid park proposal on land south of Ayr Road, Coylton, East Ayrshire (near Coylton substation) from East Ayrshire Council in August 2022. We are proposing some changes and submitted a new planning application in 2023, which aims to: 

• increase the energy capacity;
• move the infrastructure slightly to the south; and
• refine the layout and required infrastructure to remove the synchronous compensators.

For more details please visit the project website which will provide the same Information Day material from 23 January 2024.

Read the full invite here.

Planning Background 

In October 2021, Statkraft submitted a local planning application for Coylton Greener Grid Park in East Ayrshire (ref: 21/0748/PP). In March 2022, we were successful in a bidding process to provide stability services for NGESO under Stability Pathfinder Phase 2  and subsequently received planning consent for the development from East Ayrshire Council in August 2022. The planning application received no objections during the planning process and this consented scheme has not been built. 

When we submitted the first application, NGESO had not confirmed their exact requirements for the project. Now they have confirmed these, we have submitted a new application to East Ayrshire Council, which will accurately represent the project and meet our obligations under our Stability contract with NGESO. This proposed scheme will replace the consented scheme. 

You can review the full planning application on the council’s planning portal using ref 23/0580/PP here: https://eplanning.east-ayrshire.gov.uk/online/. 

If you would like to be kept informed with project news, contact us here.

The online event ran from Monday 23 May until Monday 30 May 2022 and we held an in person event on the 26 of May at Ochiltree Community Hub. Both the in person and online event provided opportunities to interact with the project team, review visualisations, predicted viewpoints and information about the project layout. Attendees were also encouraged to provide feedback.

The online exhibition material can be viewed here.

Residents and businesses local to the project were sent the invitation to take part and we are grateful for every response.

We will be writing to all those who provided comments and those that requested to receive project updates over the coming weeks. Please note that anyone who returned one of our freepost reply cards and didn’t tick the ‘keep me updated’ box means we are unable to respond directly due to GDPR legislation.

We will look to hold a further exhibition in June 2022 ahead of submitting a Major Planning application to East Ayrshire Council later in the Summer. When the application is submitted the community will have a formal opportunity to comment on the plans as part of the statutory consultation process.

Our Greener Grid Park proposals at Coylton in East Ayrshire was successful in the bidding process which is a significant milestone for the project. In order to provide the stability services required, changes need to be made to the project which will be reflected a new planning application.

Statkraft started this process by submitting a Pre Application Notice (PAN) on the 05 April 2022 which is the first step in the planning process. This will be followed by a public consultation process including public exhibitions on the 26th of May and 16th June 2022.

A Greener Grid Park will help increase the amount of renewable energy which can be delivered onto the grid network. We have found at times that although renewable technologies can meet the energy demand on the grid, NGESO is having to turn the renewable supply off and switch on fossil fuel power plants to stabilise the network, which is costing the environment and the consumer. The zero-carbon stability-improving devices in the Greener Grid Parks will enable more green electricity to run, are cheaper for consumers, and will allow the market to deliver as much renewable energy generation as possible.

Should we be successful Statkraft will utilise our world class expertise in grid stabilising technology to construct our Greener Grid Park at Coylton. The technology used in our Greener Grid Parks will help to future-proof Scotland’s wind generation success story, help NGESO continue to operate the fastest decarbonising electricity network in the world and help them to be to achieve the goal of a zero-carbon grid network by 2025.

Tom Walker the Project Manager for Coylton Greener Grid Park said: “We are committed to investing in East Ayrshire, and to help Scotland deliver its ambitious targets on its Net Zero journey. NGESO have identified a critical need for the stability services in the area. This project is perfectly placed to deliver these services, carbon free.”