The Renewables Infrastructure Group (TRIG) has acquired the 20 megawatt Broxburn unit from Renewable Energy Systems, which won an appeal in March against West Lothian councillors’ decision to refuse consent for it.

The Scottish Government’s planning appeals division judged the development of the plant in a rural area would have no adverse impacts on nature conservation or the local landscape. It said the development was modest in scale. The facility will include six containers of lithium ion storage batteries.

Backers believe plants such as Broxburn will play an important role in supporting the development of renewable energy generating plants.

Helen Mahy, chairman of TRIG, said: “The use of battery storage is becoming increasingly important in enabling grid networks to match fluctuations in the supply and demand of electricity and to stabilise power frequency.”

She said Broxburn was one of the first large-scale commercial power storage projects to be developed in the UK.

Construction is scheduled to be completed early next year. The project is expected to have an operational life of 15 years.