Nettly Burn Renewable Energy Park

Grupotec and REG Power Developments are developing proposals for a solar farm and Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) known as the Nettly Burn Renewable Energy Park. The proposals are at an early stage but because the project is for an electricity generating station likely to be in excess of 50MW of installed capacity, the determining authority for a subsequent application for consent will be the Scottish Government’s Energy Consents Unit.

There will be plenty of opportunity to provide your feedback on the proposals as they evolve and we will be carrying out local exhibitions on our plans next year.

In summary

Location

The c.125 hectare site is located on land approximately 4.5km north east of Saline in Fife on land adjoining the A823 which runs along its southern boundary, on the opposite side of the Knockhill Motor Racing Circuit.

Why this site?

The Site was carefully selected to ensure it complied with technical and environmentally sound criteria including a viable grid connection nearby with capability of accepting the power generated. The site is relatively flat with mostly unproductive agricultural land and has a low flood risk classification. Existing vegetation alongside the A823 (enhanced as part of the proposal) would provide screening to passing motorists and hills and forestry would screen the development from other directions.

The Energy Park proposal includes:

The development area of around 80 hectares including the solar farm which will have an anticipated generating capacity of up to 80 megawatts (MWp) of renewable energy

Battery storage units which will store electricity, helping the efficient operation of the network
Biodiversity and habitat improvements will form an integral part of the proposal, the intention of which will be to improve biodiversity on site and explore opportunities for peat restoration
The solar farm would have an operational life of up to 40 years, after which the modules would be decommissioned and removed from the site with many items recycled or re-purposed and the area returned to its current, agricultural use
The precise grid connection route has not yet been identified but the development will be connected to the substation in Dunfermline

Do we need solar farms and Battery Storage facilities in Scotland?

Electricity demand is expected to at least double over the next 10 years as transport and heating switch from fossil fuels to electricity. We need to produce new green power as cheaply as possible. While onshore and offshore wind is an important part of the government’s plans to achieve net zero by 2050, solar and co-located battery storage is also key and, as a relatively long-established technology can generate power at a lower cost without subsidies, so can help to bring down everyone’s energy bills.

The Development proposal responds positively to the dual climate crisis and nature emergency and will involve the construction of solar panels to increase the proportion of secure, ‘home grown’ renewable energy in Scotland and the UK, helping to meet legal-binding net zero targets. The inclusion of a BESS facility will provide more flexible export of electricity and help the efficient operation of the local grid network. As such, the development will play a critical role in the development of a smart energy system for the UK, helping to facilitate the move towards net zero greenhouse gas emissions and greater renewable energy generation.

The Scottish Government has recently committed to 4-6GW of solar deployment in Scotland by 2030 in its forthcoming Energy Strategy and Just Transition Plan. This target is ten times the current solar generation capacity currently deployed in Scotland and requires at least one project of the scale of the Nettly Burn Renewable Energy Park to be built every two months for the next seven years!

A deployment objective for solar energy in Scotland will help the wider effort to act more urgently than ever to drastically cut climate change emissions and can help in many ways:

Greater solar power on the system, with a necessary increase in the provision of flexibility services, will make more efficient use of the grid infrastructure that we already have due to the complementary generation profiles of wind and solar.
Strategic direction on solar deployment targets will further incentivise investment in a smart and capable electricity grid, which is urgently needed and will benefit communities and businesses across Scotland
Jobs created are not just installers and developers; a wide variety of stable, green jobs with roles from site planners and manufacturers to construction and trade roles, to communications and finance specialists will be created by a healthy solar industry.