Clean energy is all well and good, but it becomes a much less efficient form of power generation when you don't have the proper infrastructure to store it. That's where Scotland's latest plans come in – according to The Guardian, energy supplier Scottish Power is about to take on the "most ambitious battery power project" in Europe: the construction and deployment of a massive, "industrial-scale" battery.
This battery will allegedly be roughly half the size of a (European) football field, and it could provide the UK as a whole with more consistent on-demand green energy from roughly 215 wind turbines. As it stands, the excess energy produced by these turbines doesn't get much use, but this battery project could solve that problem.
In a statement to The Guardian, a Scottish Power spokesman mentioned that after a mere hour of charging, the battery should be able to power "806 Nissan Leaf" cars for more than "182,000 miles" – impressive numbers, no matter how you look at them.
If there's ever a gap in the UK's ability to produce enough clean energy to suit involved customers' power needs (if an array of turbines stop working, for example), the battery can step in to discharge a portion of its energy as needed.
Work on this project is expected to begin at the Whitelee wind farm, with the full construction process set for completion by the end of next year.