Wednesday April 29th 2026
BESS plant (credit: Matric Renweables)
Written by Local Democracy Reporter, Paul Kelly
A £245m funding package in support of a major Borders battery energy storage system (BESS) has been secured as concerns grow over the “industrialisation” of the region’s rural landscape.
Work on the development near Eccles substation started last November and the latest funding will ensure completion of the scheme.
The finance deal for the Matrix project has been underwritten by banking companies CIBC, MUFG and NatWest.
It is hoped the site can begin operation next year in partnership with energy firm EDF.
Developer Matrix Renewables said the deal showed the “strong and growing demand for high-quality battery storage”.
Once it is up and running the Eccles BESS is expected to meet the energy needs of about 270,000 homes.
A BESS uses batteries to store electrical energy, which can help stabilize the grid, integrate renewable energy sources like solar and wind, and provide back-up power.
Locations in and around Eccles have proved popular with developers due to their proximity to the sub-station, which is itself being expanded.
Matrix said it had worked closely with organisations and stakeholders to ensure it was developed in line with “strict environmental, technical and community standards”.
But concerns at a plethora of similar renewable energy developments across the Borders continues to cause deep concern.
Dozens of representatives from community councils, councillors and concerned local residents recently gathered at Lauder Public Hall to adopt the Unified Statement, which urges the Scottish Government to pause construction of major energy schemes until a strategic energy plan for Scotland is in place and an economic impact assessment has been undertaken.
Convention organiser Bob Hope, a member of Leitholm, Eccles and Birgham Community Council, said: “We understand the need for renewable energy and the impact of climate change.
“What is happening now in rural Scotland is unplanned, reckless development by faceless energy giants, which get paid when they produce energy and paid when they don’t.
“The countryside is being devastated and the views of local people are simply ignored.
“Just in the Scottish Borders alone there are over 4,000 huge turbines, visible from miles around – not to mention vast battery storage systems, roads and pylon lines.
“The Scottish Government has decreed that climate change must be the key factor in determining energy applications. But all this renewable power is going to waste because the grid is overwhelmed.
“Paying developers to turn off their wind turbines is a waste of taxpayers’ money. It is a senseless industrialization of the countryside.”
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