January start for Devilla Forest energy site near Kincardine

Alcemi Storage Developments Limited, of London, said the facility east of Kincardine will connect to a substation at Longannet and have an annual output to power more than 100,000 homes.

Four hectares of woodland will be lost and Fife Council withdrew an official objection before the Scottish Government granted permission in December last year.

Alcemi said work on phase one will begin on January 13 next year, phase two in July 2025 and phase three in September 2026 with the aim of connecting to the grid in October 2027 and becoming fully operational in December 2027.

A spokesperson added: "The project comprises an energy storage facility with a capacity of up to 500 megawatts (MW)."

North of the A985, the site at Kirkton Wood is 11.7 hectares and the Devilla energy storage system will be built at an old sawmill which ceased to operate in March 2020.

Fife Council had objected to the loss of ancient woodland in Devilla Forest. (Image: Pixabay) READ MORE: Fife MSP slams 'scandalous' A&E wait times

It will store electricity when there's low demand and release it into the national grid at peak demand times.

The site will include energy storage modules; heating, ventilation and air conditioning equipment; fire suppression equipment; cooling plant; inverters or a power conversion system; transformers; a compound and welfare facilities; security fencing and CCTV; access roads, drainage, landscaping and planting.

The scheme's average annual output is predicted to be 496,400MWh, enough power for more than 100,000 homes.

Devilla Forest, which was planted in the 1950s and is around 700 hectares in size, attracts "significant visitor numbers" every year and is home to species such as the red squirrel.

The total area of habitat lost will be 8.42 hectares, 4.66 hectares of woodland – about the size of 10 football pitches – and 3.76 hectares of scrub.

Work on the new energy storage facility in Devilla Forest is due to start in January. (Image: Newsquest)

Plans to construct a forest road and turning circle for vehicles at Kirkton Wood, to make it easier to extract timber, were approved last week by the council. 

Half a hectare of trees will be planted at Devilla as 'compensatory planting' and another 16 hectares will be planted on the Gleneagles estate in Perthshire - this was described as the "nearest available and suitable location".

The Scottish Government are responsible for authorising such energy schemes and, as the planning authority, Fife Council were consulted and put in an official objection in September 2022.

The local authority said ancient woodland would be permanently lost but the objection was withdrawn in May last year after councillors heard the "significant benefits" of the scheme now "outweigh the planning authority’s local concerns".

At the time, lead consultant Bryan Reid explained: "The proposed development would have an adverse impact on Devilla Forest, just given that loss of trees, but when considering it against the provisions of FIFEplan and importantly NPF4, which places an emphasis on supporting these types of developments, including having to weigh up the impacts of them, regionally and nationally, the recommendation is Fife Council removes the previous objection and offers support subject to conditions."

And with a lack of "other suitable developable sites nearby", he said the council was satisfied the countryside location was justified.

In an unrelated move, Forestry Land Scotland said four phases of felling operations in Devilla Forest - the first phase started last week - will go on until February 28 which will see some core paths temporarily closed and diversions in place.