Plans for an 86-acre long-duration energy storage development on Green Belt land between Busby and Thorntonhall are moving forward again.
The proposed Busby Long Duration Energy Storage project would cover 34.9 hectares of land at Meikle Dripps Farm, roughly equivalent to 54 football pitches, close to Waterfoot Road. It would have a capacity of up to 150MW and store 1,200MWh of electricity, enough to operate at its maximum output for eight hours.
Correspondence received by the Jackton, Thorntonhall and Busby Alliance LDES Action Group indicates that developers are now preparing to hold a statutory pre-application consultation before submitting the full plans.
Consultants Cavendish Consulting have told campaigners that residents will be given an opportunity to see and comment on the proposals before an application for consent is lodged. No date has yet been announced for the consultation.
The Scottish Government’s Energy Consents Unit continues to list Busby LDES as a “Pre Application” project. The live record names Apatura Project 22 Ltd as the applicant and confirms that no full Section 36 application has yet reached the determination stage.
Documents already submitted as part of environmental screening give a clearer picture of the potential scale of the development.
The site extends across six agricultural fields approximately 100 metres west of Thorntonhall and 250 metres south of Busby. The nearest residential property is immediately beside its southern boundary.
The developer’s original screening submission modelled a development of up to 3,510 battery blocks. It considered container units around 2.6 metres high, with one potential configuration allowing them to be double-stacked. The accompanying landscape assessment said that could result in structures around 5.2 metres high, although the final design and technology had not been fixed at that stage.
Frontier Power Energy Holdings acquired the rights to the Busby project and a separate 200MW scheme at Ayr from Apatura on 26 May 2026. Apatura said it would retain an active role in progressing both developments.
Frontier now says Busby is expected to use long-duration batteries supplied by US manufacturer Eos Energy Enterprises, including its Z3 zinc-based technology, rather than conventional lithium-ion batteries.
The company has also confirmed that Busby has received a Gate 2 notification through the National Energy System Operator’s reformed grid connection process.
Gate 2 means a project has met NESO’s tests for readiness and can secure a place in the reformed connections queue, with a confirmed connection point and date. It is separate from planning permission and does not amount to approval for the development to be built.
The Green Belt location is likely to remain one of the main issues when the full application is considered.
The developer’s own landscape assessment says the Green Belt in this location helps maintain separation between East Kilbride, Busby and Clarkston, Thorntonhall and Waterfoot.
It also acknowledges that developing the site would increase the urban influence on the landscape and result in an “unavoidable loss of openness” that would conflict with its Green Belt designation.
South Lanarkshire Council reached a similarly conclusion during environmental screening.
Its assessment said the project would be out of scale with the existing environment, describing it as a medium-scale development being introduced into a semi-rural area.
Scottish Ministers subsequently determined that the development did not need to be accompanied by a full Environmental Impact Assessment.
A future application is still expected to include detailed assessments covering aspects including landscape and visual impact, noise, ecology, flooding and drainage.
Construction itself was estimated in the screening documents to take around 12 to 18 months, including work on the access, underground cables, fencing and landscaping.
The transport assessment anticipates construction traffic using Waterfoot Road and Peel Road, including HGVs, light goods vehicles and “a small number of abnormal loads”.
A public Core Path connecting Thorntonhall and Busby also crosses the site. The developer has proposed retaining and upgrading the route, although South Lanarkshire’s environmental screening states that the surroundings of sections of the path would be altered.
The scheme has attracted sustained opposition in Busby, Thorntonhall and Jackton.
Campaigners argue that energy storage infrastructure of this scale is inappropriate for agricultural Green Belt land separating established communities and have raised concerns about landscape change, construction traffic and noise.
A Change.org petition opposing the Busby LDES development has now attracted 2,962 verified signatures.
The petition states: “The BESS/LDES Local Action Group and the Jackton and Thorntonhall Community Council (JTCC) are fighting back against this development because of the dangers it poses - from fire risks and noise, to environmental damage and traffic.
“While we acknowledge the importance of energy infrastructure, we believe this location is completely inappropriate and that safer, more suitable alternative locations should be considered.”
The action group is also due to meet Scottish Labour South Scotland MSP Joe Fagan later this month as it prepares for the expected public consultation.