Planning permission has been granted for the Kirkan Wind Farm, a new Scottish wind farm and battery storage system located in the Garve district of the Ross and Cromarty region. The proposed development consists of 17 wind turbines, each with a maximum height to blade tip of 175 meters.

These turbines are expected to generate up to 4.8 MW of power each, contributing to a total energy output of just under 82 MW. This capacity would be sufficient to supply approximately 85,000 households with electricity annually.

The project is a collaboration between Coriolis Energy and ESB, and it marks one of the first wind farms in the UK to be co-located with a battery energy storage system to receive planning consent. This integrated approach not only supports energy decarbonization in Scotland and the UK but also helps reduce energy curtailment, where excess energy is lost due to grid capacity constraints, while enhancing grid stability.

RSK Environment was responsible for conducting the Environmental Impact Assessment, and other RSK Group companies provided services such as archaeological services, hydrogeology and peat risk assessment, forestry advisory services, traffic impact assessment, and biodiversity net gain advice. RSK also managed the consent process and application, responded to stakeholder queries, and submitted supplementary environmental information to facilitate the decision-making process by the Energy Consents Unit of the Scottish Government.

Trevor Hunter, Coriolis Energy's development project manager, emphasized the importance of projects like Kirkan in contributing to legally binding energy targets, enhancing energy security, and reducing energy costs.