Notice is hereby given that Intelligent Land Investments (ILI) (Borders PSH) Ltd, SC581757, The Shires, 33 Bothwell Road, Hamilton, ML3 0AS has applied to the Scottish Ministers for consent under Section 36 of the Electricity Act 1989 to construct and operate a pumped storage hydro scheme approximately 4.4 km to the south of the village of Portsonachan and 9 km northwest of Inveraray in Argyll and Bute (Central Grid Reference NN 03615 17578). The installed capacity of the proposed generating station would be in excess of 50 MW. The proposed development is subject to Environmental Impact Assessment and an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) report has been produced.

ILI (Borders PSH) Ltd has also requested a direction under Section 57(2) of the Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1997 that planning permission for the development be deemed to be granted.

A copy of the application, with a plan showing the land to which it relates, together with a copy of the EIA report and associated documents discussing the Company’s proposals in more detail and presenting an analysis of the environmental implications, are available for public inspection in person, free of charge, during normal office hours at:

The EIA report can also be viewed on the application website at https://www.balliemeanochpsh.co.uk or at www.energyconsents.scot.

Copies of the EIA report may be obtained from the Balliemeanoch PSH Project Team on behalf of ILI (Borders PSH) Ltd (email: pumpedstorage@aecom.com) at a charge of £250 for a full hard copy (with the exception of Volume 6: Confidential Appendices) and £10 on USB pen drive. Copies of a short non-technical summary are available free of charge.

Any representations to the application may be submitted by email to the Scottish Government, Energy Consents Unit mailbox at representations@gov.scot; or by post to the Scottish Government, Energy Consents Unit, 4th Floor, 5 Atlantic Quay, 150 Broomielaw, Glasgow, G2 8LU, identifying the proposal and specifying the grounds for representation.

Written or emailed representations should be dated, clearly stating the name (in block capitals), full return email and postal address of those making representations. Only representations sent by email to representations@gov.scot will receive acknowledgement.

All representations should be received not later than August the 26th 2024 although Ministers may consider representations received after this date.

Any subsequent additional information which is submitted by the developer will be subject to further public notice in this manner, and representations to such information will be accepted as per this notice.

As a result of a statutory objection from the relevant planning authority, or where Scottish Ministers decide to exercise their discretion to do so, Scottish Ministers can also cause a Public Inquiry to be held.

Following examination of the environmental information, Scottish Ministers will determine the application for consent in one of two ways:

· Consent the proposal, with or without conditions attached; or

· Reject the proposal.

General Data Protection Regulations

The Scottish Government processes applications under the Electricity Act 1989. To support transparency in decision making, the Scottish Government publishes online at www.energyconsents.scot. A privacy notice is published on the help page at www.energyconsents.scot. This explains how the Scottish Government processes your personal information and includes contact details for any enquiries or complaints regarding how your personal data is handled.