The Scottish Government’s Energy Consents Unit annual report, published on 6 October, summarised applications administered on behalf of Scottish Ministers from 1 April 2025 to 31 March 2026. The Unit received 139 applications and determined 130 during the reporting year: These 130 decisions comprised 126 consents and four refusals. Separately, 12 applications were withdrawn and are outside the determination total. The totals received and determined differ because cases can carry across reporting periods. An application count is not a measure of project capacity or the number of facilities built.

Of the 130 determinations, 61 were Section 36 cases. Fifty-seven were consented and four refused; all four refusals concerned wind farms. A further 68 overhead-line applications under Section 37 were consented. The report also lists consent for 32 battery energy storage systems, 18 wind farms, five hybrid projects, one solar project and one gas pipeline. These categories cover different statutory application types and do not all follow an identical process or technical scope.

Decision counts do not provide the amount of generation or storage capacity. The report does not substitute these counts for a total in megawatts, storage duration or annual energy expected to be delivered to the grid. Thirty-two battery consents therefore cannot be read as 32 equally sized batteries or as a particular combined capacity. Consent, construction and operation are separate stages; a decision does not show that a facility has been built or is running.

The Unit reported that determination times varied by technology and case stage. Average overall time was 1,427 days for applications referred to the Directorate for Planning and Environmental Appeals (DPEA), compared with 567 days for those not referred. Six Section 36 applications went to DPEA, where a reporter-led examination and possible public inquiry add steps. These are averages for different groups of completed cases, not promised timetables or targets for every new application.

One wind-farm decision counted among the consents was later subject to judicial review and returned for further consideration. The report therefore records how legal proceedings can affect case outcomes after the reporting period. Its figures describe the consent authority’s caseload and decisions; they do not establish how much renewable generation will actually be added or determine Scotland’s energy balance. The financial-year dates and the report’s 6 October 2026 publication date are distinct.