Whitelee Battery
Iberdrola installed the UK's largest wind energy battery at Whitelee
Iberdrola projects Energy storage Scottish Power United Kingdom Scotland
The 50 MW capacity Whitelee battery energy storage system is located just a few kilometres from Glasgow, south-west Scotland, next to our Whitelee onshore wind farm with almost 540 MW of renewable capacity.
Whitelee Battery
The energy storage battery attached to the Whitelee onshore wind farm (near Glasgow) has an installed capacity of 50 megawatts (MW) and became the largest wind battery in the UK after its commissioning in November 2022.
With dimensions equivalent to half a football pitch, this lithium-ion battery has the energy storage capacity of almost 4 million smartphones and has a total charging time of just one hour.
Whitelee's battery energy storage system (BESS) joins two others from Scottish Power, Iberdrola's UK subsidiary, in operation from 2022: Gormans, with 50 MW; and Barnesmore, with 3 MW, installed next to the wind farm of the same name.
Batteries for the energy transition in the UK
At the end of 2019, ScottishPower placed battery storage at the heart of its business, unveiling a hybrid energy strategy to maximise onshore renewable energy potential in the UK and Ireland. Through ScottishPower Renewables, our subsidiary aims to install 1.5 GW of energy storage technology by 2030 to maintain a secure and stable electricity grid as it moves towards zero emissions.
Keith Anderson, CEO of ScottishPower said: "In the UK and Ireland the perfect blend of clean power from onshore renewables should include a mixture of clean energy technologies. The costs for building wind, solar and batteries have reduced considerably in recent years, and they complement each other very well. They perform best at different times of the day and at different times of the year.”
Iberdrola, world leader in renewable energies
At Iberdrola, we decided to commit to renewable energies more than two decades ago as a fundamental pillar on which to build our safe, clean and competitive business model. Thanks to this vision, we are today world leaders in renewable energies, reaching 42,387 MW of renewables in operation after Q1 2024.
This commitment is reflected in our Strategic Plan, in which we will allocate €15.5bn gross to renewables. More than half of this amount is focused on offshore wind in the US, UK, France and Germany; 28% on onshore wind and 18% on solar.