Posted 08 Jul 2025
- Ground broken at Field Holmston battery storage system in South Ayrshire; work at Drum Farm near Keith set to begin early autumn
- Powersystems to deliver construction at Holmston and Clarke Energy to do so at Drum Farm; Envision appointed as battery supplier for both projects
- Both 50 MW / 100 MWh sites to power the grid with vital flexibility and stability services as energy storage of all durations increasingly important for secure, cleaner power system
Field continues to deliver its 3.5 GW pipeline of battery storage sites across Great Britain, with construction in Scotland now underway at its Holmston site and due to begin at Drum Farm later this year.
Construction on Field Holmston in South Ayrshire began this summer and is expected to complete in the first half of 2026. Located on the outskirts of Keith, construction at Field Drum Farm will commence in early autumn and end towards the end of next year.
Overseen by an experienced team at Field, Clarke Energy will deliver construction work at Drum Farm and Powersystems at Holmston. Field has appointed Envision Energy as the battery storage system supplier for both sites.
Combined, both 50 MW / 100 MWh sites will be capable of storing enough power to supply up to 260,000 homes for two hours when fully charged. Both sites are north of the heavily constrained B6 transmission boundary between England and Scotland, a major driver of constraint costs which are spiralling.
National Energy System Operator data shows constraint costs amounted to over £1.7 billion in 2024 [1] and were close to £1billion in the first half of 2025 alone. Constraint costs are expected to keep increasing to 2030 [2]. However, both of Field’s battery storage sites are capable of reducing constraint costs and avoiding unnecessary curtailment of available wind generation.
Holmston and Drum Farm are backed by Field’s £42 million senior non-recourse loan with Rabobank and ING. Once operational, the sites will be optimised using Gaia, Field’s in-house flexibility platform, to maximise their performance in wholesale and balancing markets.
Amit Gudka, CEO of Field, said: “Getting shovels in the ground at Holmston – and soon at Drum Farm – is another big step forward for Field as we work to accelerate the transition to a secure, cleaner energy system in Scotland and across the UK.
“Energy storage of all durations, particularly batteries, remains an important part of this picture. They’re already doing the heavy lifting when balancing power supplies across the system. Built in strategic locations to support the grid, battery storage can make a difference to bill payers by reducing constraint costs and helping run the energy system in a more efficient and flexible way.”
Battery storage plays a critical role in enabling the UK to meet its clean power targets, maintaining stability across a system increasingly dependent on renewable sources such as wind and solar. Once deployed, the technology is efficient in the amount of space it uses and has a low visual impact.
[1] National Energy System Operator, Constraint Breakdown Costs and Volume dataset
[2] National Energy System Operator, 2025 Annual Balancing Costs Report, P. 31
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