World class energy site announced
Plans for £25m scheme
An estate has been unveiled as the location for a ground breaking, world-leading energy project which will revolutionise how renewable energy supplies are generated, stored and used by communities in the area.
Knockroon Estate, just outside Cumnock, has been chosen as the site for the National Energy Research Demonstrator Project (NERD).
The project will focus on Cumnock being a Regional Community Living Lab for Just Transition to Renewable Power, Heat and Transport, and a centre of academic research and innovation.
It’s all thanks to an investment of £17 million from the UK Government, backed up with £7.5 million from East Ayrshire Council as part of the £251.5 million Ayrshire Growth Deal.
The NERD project will develop a centre of excellence for clean energy research, harnessing existing and new renewable energy technologies such as hydrogen and geothermal heat to provide solutions to produce and store energy and create a new, more flexible energy grid.
Cumnock and the surrounding area provides a unique location to investigate a wide mix of energy technologies.
A number of sites around Cumnock were considered as potential locations for the NERD Centre of Excellence, including Caponacre Industrial Estate; land to the east of Auchinleck Road in Cumnock; the former Auchinleck Academy site and land on the Knockroon Estate.
Following assessment and evaluation of all the land options, Knockroon Estate emerged as the preferred location.
Karl Doroszenko, development planning and regeneration manager with East Ayrshire Council, is heading up the project team.
He said: “This is exciting news for the communities of Auchinleck and Cumnock.
“The NERD project will bring many benefits and advantages to these local communities over the lifetime of the project - and beyond - as the low carbon alternatives start to revolutionise modern day living.
“Agreeing the location for the Centre of Excellence is the first major milestone for this project and we look forward to working with Faithful and Gould, the appointed design team, to finalise the designs for the NERD Centre of Excellence at Knockroon Estate.”
While subject to planning permission, it is anticipated that the construction for the Centre of Excellence building and the two Demonstrator Houses will begin in 2022, with completion in autumn 2023.
More information can be accessed at https://www.ayrshiregrowthdeal.co.uk/
This is exciting news for Auchinleck and Cumnock