Battery Energy Storage Systems planning applications exceeding 50MW: EIR release

Information requested

In reference to recent correspondence (MiCase 202500463323 refers), you asked us to "provide details on how many BESS planning applications exceeding 50MW have been submitted in each of the last three years across Scotland, and of those, how many have not required an Environmental Impact Assessment. I would be grateful for this to be broken down by local authority and size of project.

Response

As the information you have requested is 'environmental information' for the purposes of the Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004 (EIRs), we are required to deal with your request under those Regulations. We are applying the exemption at section 39(2) of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (FOISA), so that we do not also have to deal with your request under FOISA.

This exemption is subject to the 'public interest test'. Therefore, taking account of all the circumstances of this case, we have considered if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exemption. We have found that, on balance, the public interest lies in favour of upholding the exemption, because there is no public interest in dealing with the same request under two different regimes. This is essentially a technical point and has no material effect on the outcome of your request.

I enclose a copy of some of the information you requested in spreadsheet format, titled ANNEX A and will address each point in turn:

1. The total number of BESS planning applications exceeding 50MW that have been submitted in each of the last three years across Scotland are:

Years	Number of Applications
May 2022 – Apr 2023	10
May 2023 – Apr 2024	34
May 2024 – Apr 2025	34

Details provided in Annex A – Filter column E

2. How many have not required and Environmental Impact Assessment: 75

Details provided in Annex A – Filter column F

3. Applications not requiring an Environmental Impact Assessment broken down by Local authority:

Local Authority	No. of Applications
Aberdeen City Council	1
Aberdeenshire Council	5
Angus Council	2
Dumfries and Galloway Council	1
East Ayrshire Council	3
East Dunbartonshire Council	1
East Lothian Council	7
Fife Council	3
Glasgow City Council	2
Highland Council	8
Inverclyde Council	2
Midlothian Council	1
Moray Council	1
North Ayrshire	3
North Lanarkshire Council	3
North Lanarkshire; Glasgow City Council	1
Perth and Kinross Council	3
Renfrewshire Council	4
Scottish Borders Council	4
Shetland Islands Council	1
South Ayrshire Council	4
South Lanarkshire Council	9
Stirling Council	2
The City of Edinburgh Council	1
West Dunbartonshire Council	1
West Lothian Council	2
Total	75

Details provided in Annex A – Filter column G

Regarding your request for information on the size of each project, under the terms of the exception at regulation 10(4)(a) of the EIRs (information not held), the Scottish Government is not required to provide information which it does not have. The Scottish Government does not have some of the information you have requested because there is no requirement for developers to provide these details during the process of applying for consent.

Schedule 8 of the Electricity Act 1989 only requires that an application is made in writing and shall describe by reference to a map the land to which the application relates, that is, the land on which the generating station is proposed to be constructed, extended or operated. Whilst we do expect developers to follow the Energy Consents Good Practice Guide and provide more extensive detail, not providing the information suggested in the guide is not a legal basis for refusal.

This exception is subject to the 'public interest test'. Therefore, taking account of all the circumstances of this case, we have considered if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exception. We have found that, on balance, the public interest lies in favour of upholding the exception. While we recognise that there may be some public interest in information about Battery Energy Storage System units, clearly, we cannot provide information which we do not hold.

The MW capacity of each installation considered by the Energy Consents Unit is not finalised during the consenting process. This is established during construction and then connection of the development to the grid network. Further information is however available from https://data.barbour abi.com/smart-map/repd/desnz/?type=repd 

This interactive map provided by the UK Department of Energy Security and Net Zero, shows the geographical spread of renewable energy projects, their associated status and if connected, their capacity.

About FOI

The Scottish Government is committed to publishing all information released in response to Freedom of Information requests. View all FOI responses at https://www.gov.scot/foi-responses.

FOI 202500464163 - Information Released - Annex A

File type

Excel document

File size

18.3 kB