RENEWABLE energy park plans have been unveiled, proposing the construction of the large scale project in the north east of Scotland.
The project is set to commence in 2023 and be fully operational by 2026, delivering a large amount of green energy to the Scottish grid.
The energy park is designed to deliver between 150-200 megawatts of energy to the Scottish grid.
The project will be able to power tens of thousands of homes across the north east of Scotland and will create a large amount of jobs.
The developers undertaking the project are Edinburgh-based Holistic Energy who estimate 1500 jobs will be created to build the energy park, while a further 250 permanent jobs will be created in the operation.
The large-scale development is earmarked to be built on a purchased 40-hectare site close to the existing Peterhead Power Station, Aberdeenshire.
It has attracted overseas interest from an investment group – North China Power Engineering (NCPE) – who has pledged £800m for the build-out phase.
Holistic Energy has completed a feasibility and evaluation study of what will be the UK’s first Holistic Low Carbon Energy Facility.
The feasibility study has produced an outline layout of the facility, the range of technologies to be used and how these will interact, to ensure the best possible efficiency and the lower environmental impact.
Concepts have already drawn up to encompass and integrate several different energy generation technologies.
These include a mixed fuel gasification and biomass plant, a green biodiesel production facility and an aerobic digestion (AD) plant.
These will be housed alongside solar PV, wind energy, and supported by a green hydrogen production facility and large-scale battery storage facilities.
As a phase two to the project, Holistic Energy will explore the deep geothermal potential of the site.
Dr Gen Cannibal, director of Holistic Energy said: “The facility will have three primary purposes – to produce a local renewable power station in Peterhead which can approach the most commonly identified barriers to renewable uptake, to form a major R&D facility for new technologies that have reached the marketable stage.
“But have not, as of yet, attained large scale market application in the UK and thirdly, to provide a significant replacement to gas-powered plants in satisfying Scottish electricity demands and, hence, decarbonising the Scottish Economy.”
Support for Holistic Energy’s proposed Renewable Energy Village has come locally from Aberdeenshire Council Economic Development Service, and Opportunity North East, a private sector catalyst driving transformational change in north east Scotland’s economy.