Scots villagers fear countryside will be turned into concrete wasteland by new 'green' batteries

dailyrecord.co.uk:

Locals in a Scots village say their countryside is being turned into a concrete wasteland by massive planned "green" battery storage sites.

More than 200 acres of farmland - enough for 128 football pitches - are set to be concreted over for six huge battery facilities within a two-mile radius of Leitholm, near Coldstream in the Borders.Each location will be turned into a concreted compound to house large batteries which will store excess energy chiefly from wind farms.

But local campaigners say the proposals are “tearing the heart out of” the community - and warned it will transform the area’s beautiful countryside into an “industrial estate”.Scottish Power Energy Networks (SPEN) are currently expanding its chain of electricity substations across Scotland to cater for the boom in renewable energy - with bids for new battery storage compounds following behind each substation development.

With nearby Eccles substation in the process of redevelopment to double its size, permission has been granted for two battery sites with another four in the pipeline.Batteries are designed to solve the dilemma of excess energy produced by wind turbines when it’s windy, with the energy stored then released when demand is high or the wind isn’t blowing as much - deemed crucial for the transition to stable green energy.