October 2 2024

An energy firm is charging ahead with plans to build a 200MW battery storage park at Bathgate, West Lothian after its plans were passed at committee without objection.

Designed to store electricity when demand is low and release it when demand jumps the development will help maximise the efficiency of wind and solar power by balancing supply and demand.

Michael Newton, sustainability developer at OnPath Energy, said: “Battery storage solutions like Pond have a massive role to play in reaching net zero targets and will become an increasingly vital part of our energy infrastructure as we move away from traditional energy sources like coal and gas."

The £130m Pond Flexible Energy Park, overseen by Atkins on behalf of OnPath Energy, is earmarked for a three-hectare site at the Pond Industrial Estate on Whitburn Road. It will have the capacity to meet peak electricity demand for 240,000 homes for two hours.

OnPath operates three Scottish wind farms with a further three due to start construction within two years. 

4 Comments

#1 Posted by Fat Bloke on Tour on 2 Oct 2024 at 21:10 PM

Better question in all of this would be where will the batteries come from?

Our green revolution -- built abroad and shipped in.
Holyrood really have this all under control.
Overgrown students doing day release.

Not !?!

#2 Posted by Lovely on 2 Oct 2024 at 21:58 PM

Relax FAT BOT if the humungous pollution to make the battery farm happens offshore then it doesn’t need to be counted in the ‘net zero’ calculations.

An easy error to make if you’re an old school environmentalist simply trying to actually reduce consumption, resource depletion, reliance on aggressive neo-imperialistic global trade and of course pollution.

#3 Posted by Ghetto King on 4 Oct 2024 at 08:58 AM

I think what #1 is getting at is : what security of procurement is there if we are all going to be reliant on foreign countries to mine the necessary resources to manufacture the batteries and then ship them half way across the globe?
Aye , there are trade agreements or treaties but they can be broken.

#4 Posted by Fred Smart on 4 Oct 2024 at 16:04 PM

I am not that worried about net zero - living in Bathgate I am more concerned about Thermal Runaway.

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