Kilmarnock South

Kilmarnock South is a 350MW, 4-hour BESS site located in South Ayrshire, Scotland, due to become operational in early 2028.

The site has been developed by Noriker Power, who have undertaken all origination and early-stage development work. The project has started construction with Noriker continuing to provide engineering and construction management services.

The site has a unique design, shaped by both technical challenges and natural features. The land sits on a slope and is intersected by overhead power lines. Noriker has worked closely with ecology specialists to create a distinctive pattern of terraces, integrating the battery units into the natural topography and introducing planted areas throughout the site to maximise biodiversity.

Kilmarnock South will become one of the largest BESS projects in the UK. Delivering a project at this scale demands a high level of expertise, integrating a wide range of skills across project management, compliance, regulation, and the various engineering disciplines, which is the key characteristic of Noriker. Construction and design challenges are considered from the outset, with more than a year of detailed engineering and project preparation work before the start of construction.

Noriker produced detailed early-stage designs that enabled the timely procurement of long-lead equipment, such as the super grid transformers that convert the 400kV connection voltage to the site distribution voltage, helping to safeguard the project timeline. With the world wide transformation of electricity production to renewables, main electrical network equipment has become a bottleneck, presenting challenges to large scale projects that connect to the transmission network in particular.

Project details:

• Transmission connected at 400kV, 350MW/1400MWh BESS
• Design and planning for up to 4 hours, with flexibility to build for lower run time
• Extensive noise modelling to ensure stringent requirements are met, ensured OEM equipment robustly specified during contracting
• Designed to operate as four independent battery units, with advanced services capability
• Early engagement with Transmission Network Operator ensured programme maintained throughout grid reform process, and compliance processes de-risked
• Extensive landscaping and biodiversity areas
• Noriker developed site, delivering construction phase project management and engineering services including Owners Engineer and Principle Designer, as well as providing SCADA