Plans for an expansive solar farm and two battery storage facilities have been submitted to Aberdeen City Council to be situated between Bridge of Don and Dyce.

The facilities, which were proposed by English company Innova Renewables, named the Lower Bodachra Solar and Storage facility, are designed to span across 212 acres, an are over 15 times the size of Windsor Castle.

The project will involve the instillation of a 72MW solar farm, along with a 45MW battery energy storage system on land at Lower Bodachra Farm and Perwinnes Farm, east of Dyce.

The development is expected to generate sufficient power for an estimated 23,8000 homes once connected to the grid, the equivalent of nearly a fifth of all properties in Aberdeen.

Developers have argued that the site will play a key role in the transition to renewable energy, as the project is projected to save an average of 142,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions annually.

Before submitting its planning application, Innova consulted with Aberdeen City Council officers as well as representatives from the Scottish Government’s Energy Consents Unit. The final say on the proposal will be made by Scottish Ministers.

If it gains approval, execution of the plans will take around four months. As reported by Aberdeen Live, once established, both the solar farm and the battery storage facilities would operate fr 40 years, after which the land would be reverted to its original state.

Recommended reading

• Are High Costs Impeding the Public From Adopting Low Carbon Tech?
• £130M Bathgate Battery Storage Park Gets Council Committee Approval
• Scots Green Hydrogen Projects Get £7M Funding

Features in the energy storage facility will include a ventilation and air conditioning unit, as well as a fire suppression system and a transformer.

In another development, Source Galileo Limited is submitting plans to build a battery energy storage system on the outskirts of Dyce at Goval Farm, just a few metres away from a new housing development. The proposed site, roughly the size of a football pitch, will store 49.9MW units of energy, and be connected to a nearby substations via an underground cable.

For safety, the facility would be fully monitored, include heat and smoke detection as well as ventilation control, and the company will liaise with the local fire crew.