A bid has been launched to build a new battery storage unit in east Perthshire to store renewable energy.
Proposals have been lodged with Perth and Kinross Council for a 32 megawatt solar farm and and 16 megawatt storage battery near Coupar Angus.
If it gets the go-ahead, the facility has the capacity to help power 8,700 homes every year.
The plans are currently in the early stages and will go to Perth and Kinross Council for pre-application review, before a full application is lodged by energy company Eco Dev Group.
What is in the plans?
The proposed storage unit at Keithick Estate, west of Coupar Angus, will hold lithium ion batteries to produce, store and then export electricity.
Alongside this will be 71,000 double-sided solar panels, which will produce electricity to be stored within the batteries and fed directly to the national grid.
Developers say sheep will graze on the land occupied by the solar panels to support biodiversity.
The development will generate enough power for some 8,700 homes every year and save 8,600 tonnes of Co2, which equates to 344,200 tonnes of CO2 over the lifetime of the development.
James Steynor, Eco Dev Group developer, said: “We have done a large amount of solar energy in the past and have really focused our efforts on battery storage.
“The battery storage units help to store the energy rather than waste it.
“When a wind turbine is in use, but the national grid is already full, the energy gets wasted.
“These batteries will allow that energy to be stored and saved up to help power people’s homes during the colder months.
“We are working closely with a planning consultant and are really sensitive to the local community. We want this to work.”
The unit is one of many in the works across Tayside.
There have been similar proposals for Dundee, Perth and Forfar.
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