Scottish Highlands Windfarm gets Green Light

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Written by Martin Lynch, European News Editor for Industrial Info (Galway, Ireland) -- The Scottish Government has given the green light for an 85-megawatt (MW) windfarm to be constructed in the Scottish Highlands.

The new Beinneun windfarm, located near Fort Augustus in the Highlands, will be developed by RidgeWind Ltd. (Lyneham, England). The windfarm will boast 25 turbines and generate enough power for around 40,000 homes. It will also result in a cash investment of almost 38 million ($48 million) into the Highland economy during the two-year construction period.

"The construction of the Beinneun wind farm will provide a valuable boost to the local economy, injecting £30 million and creating 90 jobs during construction, as well as an estimated £3 million a year after that," explained Scottish Energy Minister, Fergus Ewing, on granting approval. "Once it is up and running it will save thousands of tonnes of carbon dioxide each year, and it is expected that the savings made will 'pay off' the carbon footprint of constructing the site in less than two years. The wind farm will also produce enough electricity to power the equivalent of 40,000 homes."

The Scottish Government is aiming to generate 100% of Scotland's electricity from renewables by 2020, the majority of which will come from wind power. The government's Energy Consents and Deployment Unit is currently considering another 42 applications for renewable projects in excess of 50 MW capacity. These include two hydro, four biomass and 36 onshore wind projects.

Since May 2007, the Scottish Government has determined 76 energy applications, granting permission to 54 renewable projects, most of which were onshore wind projects (30), followed by hydroelectric projects (19).

In an effort to speed up the process of getting windfarms approved, the government introducing new guidance for windfarm applications at the end of the summer. Developed by the Good Practice Wind Project, a group funded by the Scottish Government and the European Union (E.U.), the new guidelines set out best practice methods from across Europe. For additional information, see related August 29, 2012, article - Scotland Cutting Windfarm 'Red-Tape'.

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