Solar, wind and battery projects near Invergordon (IV18)
6 solar, wind or battery projects of 150 kW or more are recorded within 10 km of the centre of IV18 (Highland): 2 are waiting for a planning decision, 2 approved but not yet running, 1 operational. The largest live scheme is The Smithy (45 MW battery storage, approved on 29 January 2025, not yet built), 7.4 km away. Source: Renewable Energy Planning Database, July 2026 extract.
Projects within 10 km of IV18
Projects of 1 MW and more (2)
| Project | Type | MW | Status (REPD) | Submitted | Decision | Record updated | Council | km |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cromarty Wind Farmwind farm | wind farm | 2.4 | refusedupdated Jul 2013 | May 2012 | refused Jan 2013 | Jul 2013 | Highland | 6.4 |
| The Smithybattery storage | battery storage | 45 | approved, not builtupdated Mar 2025 | Jan 2024 | granted Jan 2025 | Mar 2025 | Highland | 7.4 |
Smaller schemes under 1 MW, mostly rooftop solar (4)
| Project | Type | MW | Status (REPD) | Submitted | Decision | Record updated | Council | km |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Invergordon Academysolar farm | solar farm | 0.2 | operationalupdated Nov 2019 | Jan 2019 | granted Feb 2019 | Nov 2019 | Highland | 1.3 |
| Creachan Wind Farm & BESSwind farm | wind farm | — | application submittedupdated Apr 2026 | Feb 2026 | — | Apr 2026 | Highland | 5.6 |
| Creachan Wind Farm & BESSbattery storage | battery storage | — | application submittedupdated Apr 2026 | Feb 2026 | — | Apr 2026 | Highland | 5.6 |
| Alness Academysolar farm | solar farm | 0.5 | under constructionupdated Feb 2020 | Jan 2019 | granted Mar 2019 | Feb 2020 | Highland | 5.8 |
Distance from the average position of the IV18 postcodes, not from your home. Projects of 5 MW and more have their own page with dates and planning history.
By type
| Type | All | Pending | Approved | Operational | Refused | MW in pipeline |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Solar farm | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0.5 |
| Wind farm | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Battery storage | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 45 |
MW in pipeline: pending, approved and under-construction capacity.
How Highland decides solar, wind and battery applications
| Applications | Highland | UK |
|---|---|---|
| Decided applications (solar, wind, battery) | 160 | 10,236 |
| Refused | 68 (42%) | 19% |
| Solar refused | 0 of 15 | 12% |
| Onshore wind refused | 61 of 114 | 45% |
| Battery storage refused | 7 of 31 | 16% |
| Median time from submission to decision | 52.3 weeks | 17.0 weeks |
| Appeals lodged / allowed | 20 / 20 | — |
Is the status up to date?
32% of applications still shown as pending in REPD were submitted more than two years ago, and only 37% of pending records were updated in the last 12 months, so some of them may already have been decided. Check the council's planning register for the latest decision.