News
Kirknewton residents invited to view updated Kirknewton Solar and BESS Farm plans
15 September 2025
September 2025
BLC Energy is holding a second public exhibition for its proposed solar and battery energy storage system (BESS) farm on land off Leyden Road, 2km southwest of Kirknewton village in West Lothian.
The event will take place from 4-8pm on Thursday 25 September at Kirknewton Village Hall, EH27 8AH.
An online presentation will take place from 6.30-7.30pm on Monday 29 September, for those who cannot attend in person.
The project team will be on hand to answer questions and share information.
They will also show the updated layout of the solar and BESS farm following feedback from the first exhibition and share some of the preliminary survey results from the Environmental Impact Assessment.
Neil Lindsay, managing director of BLC Energy, said: “We have made changes to the layout in response to the various environmental surveys and feedback from neighbours and residents.
“We have increased the buffer between the solar panels and the houses at Newlands to allow space for additional planting, and included new hedgerows and tree planting to reduce views from the north and west.
“We have also adjusted fence lines to ensure that walking access around the field perimeter remains, and focused on biodiversity enhancement to help the local environment.
“We hope to see a lot of people at the event, and we would like to thank them for the local knowledge and the feedback they have passed on so far – it has really helped inform our proposal and had an impact on the design.”
Kirknewton Solar Farm and BESS will have an export capacity of 40MW of solar energy and 9MW of battery storage. The project will connect via an underground cable to the grid at Currie substation.
Kirknewton Solar & BESS Farm will generate an annual community benefit fund worth £500 for every megawatt (MW) of export capacity for its 40-year project life.
Neil Lindsay said: “We have already had some exciting conversations about how the community benefit fund could be used – including some really innovative suggestions. We hope to continue working with the local community council to progress those, but we are keen to hear from local people about their priorities for how the fund should be spent.”
Visit https://www.blcenergy.com/projects/kirknewton/ for more information or to sign up for the online exhibition.
ENDS
Media contact: Sarah McDaid (sarah@mcdaidpr.co.uk/ 07866789688)
