Renewable Connections hails hat-trick of solar and storage consents

Renewable Connections has won planning permission for its first Scottish solar and battery energy storage developments, its third consented project to be unveiled this week.

Fife Council unanimously approved the 25MW Strathruddie Solar Farm and 20MW battery storage project, which will be developed in partnership with European Energy in Kinglassie in Fife.

John Lindsay, development manager for Scotland at Renewable Connections said the company was “delighted” to achieve its first Scottish consent.

Renewable Connections has unveiled up to 165.9MW of solar and storage projects consents secured in quick succession.

This includes the 49.9MW solar farm and 20.5MW battery storage developments at Vicarage Drove Energy Centre, in Lincolnshire, and the 50MW/100MWh Indian Queens grid-scale battery storage facility in Cornwall. The latter of these was achieved through a joint application with Pivot Power, which also secured planning permission for a 50MW battery.

Both the Vicarage Drove and Indian Queens projects are also being developed in partnership with European Energy.

“The UK needs to deploy more homegrown energy in order to achieve more sustainable energy pricing and long-term energy security,” said John Leith, development director at Renewable Connections.

“To have three renewable energy projects consented in such quick succession is a huge achievement, especially for our team and consultants who have worked tirelessly on these projects.”

Last year, Renewable Connections won £40,000 from the Mayor's Resilience Fund to support the development of a 5.5MW floating solar project in London’s Royal Docks. Solar Power Portal caught up with Leith at the time to discuss the development process.