Fears raised over proposed Clydebank battery storage site

On Tuesday, developer Intelligent Land Investments (ILI) Group held a pre-application consultation meeting at the Hub Community Centre to discuss plans for the proposed site at Braidfield Farm.

The land is currently used as a horse paddock and falls under the Kilpatrick ward. 

The ILI Group propose creating a 100-megawatt energy storage facility which would house containers of lithium-ion batteries and associated equipment such as an access track to the site, electricity, meter building, and fencing.

Images of what the ILI Group say the project could look like (Image: Newsquest staff)The Post went along to the event to find out more about the plans and to hear residents’ views on them.

READ NEXT: Developer sheds light on plans for proposed Clydebank battery storage site

John Hainey, a member of the Linnvale and Drumry Community Council (LDCC) told our reporter his main concern is security.

He said: “They’re [ILI Group] going to build a big fence around it and top that with barbed wire but places like this have been broken into before.

“If you look at factories they have all this equipment [fencing, CCTV cameras, etc] and still have staff patrolling them.

“How many people will this site employ at the end of the project? None. There is not going to be anybody on site.

“It will be totally monitored from another place that they couldn’t tell me the location of. Nowadays it could be somebody in London looking at a TV screen.

“How quickly will they be able to get someone here if people do manage to scale the fence or break through it?

“You could argue that the transporter station in Cochno doesn’t have someone on site all the time but to be honest I think it’s the lithium-ion batteries that will attract people.

“It’s actually going to be made up of cells, hundreds of cells in each of the containers. That might make people think they can steal some of them.”

In its proposal titled the 'Braidfield Energy Storage Project’ the ILI Group says they hope this site will store excess energy from the grid as well as put electricity back into the grid when required.

The location is said to have been chosen as the land is located near the Kilbowie Grid Supply Point (GSP) and it is noted that there are very few GSPs across Scotland that can accommodate this level of power.

Mary McAleer, another member of LDCC, explained that she is concerned about the potential traffic that the site would generate whilst under construction.

The 64-year-old said: “The traffic out there [on Great Western Road] is busy enough as it is. How are they going to get trucks into the site?

“It’s farm road. I feel that it is going to ruin the scenery and disrupt the wildlife. It’s far too close for comfort and we don’t want it.”

At Tuesday’s event, the ILI Group presented various drawings of the proposed project site, site layout, energy storage units, substation, and fencing.

Proposed site layout outlined in red (Image: ILI Group)It is understood that trucks will access the site [outlined in red on the drawing] by turning off of Kilbowie Road onto Strathdee Avenue and then turning left onto Braidfield Road.

Proposed site layout (Image: ILI Group)

Fencing plan (Image: ILI Groups)The Hamilton-based company also confirmed that the site will be remotely monitored via security cameras and will not be manned.

The project plans have not yet been submitted to the Scottish Government however it is understood that this will be done in the coming months.

This is now the second proposed battery storage unit in Clydebank.

In 2023 Green energy firm Apatura lodged plans for a battery storage farm in Faifley, on the outskirts of the town.

This proposal has been submitted to the Scottish Government and the process remains ongoing.