Highview Power has announced plans to develop a long-duration energy storage (LDES) project in Ayrshire, Scotland, with a capacity of 2.5 gigawatt hours (GWh).

The project will be built at Peel Ports’ property at Hunterston, North Ayrshire and will provide five times the existing battery storage capacity of Scotland.

It is supported by the Scottish government and its strategic location optimises the use of renewable electricity produced in the country.

Highview Power has already secured the development rights for the construction of the Hunterston LDES project.

The construction of the plant will occur in two stages. The initial phase will focus on establishing the grid connection and infrastructure necessary for providing grid stability services.

The second phase will involve the complete build-out of the liquid air energy storage (LAES) facility, with the planning process for this stage now underway.

The development of the Hunterston project will create 1,000 jobs on-site during the construction phase and an additional 650 jobs within the supply chain.

The project will be capable of supplying power to 650,000 homes for 12.5 hours.

The Hunterston project marks the launch of Highview Power’s second phase of the LDES development programme, which comprises four projects across Scotland and Northern England.

The programme, which includes a project in Aberdeenshire, aims to support the integration of renewable energy from the North Sea and address the crucial need for grid stability in the region.

Highview Power chief executive Richard Butland stated: “We were delighted to meet the First Minister today, and thrilled to announce our next project in Hunterston, the first of four, which kick starts our multi-billion-pound LDES programme across the UK to unlock 10GWh of LDES.

“This project will be transformational for Scotland in providing critical storage for offshore wind and solving grid constraints as well as delivering major investment in Ayrshire, and the wider region.”