The differing attitudes towards wind farms can be seen in developments regarding three UK wind farms. One in Scotland, one in Cornwall and one off the South Devon coast. Plans have been submitted for a major wind farm near Carsphairn in Scotland.
Energy firm E.On are behind the bid to build 19 wind turbines at Quantans Hill (see photo above). The plan is to generate power for over 35,000 homes. They have taken pains to “minimise the visual impact” on the surrounding countryside. The locals are also likely to be “quids in” as they are liable to receive £285,000 a year through a community benefit fund. The final decision rests with the Scottish Government’s energy consents unit. There has already been one change- instead of planning to build up to 30 125m-tall turbines at Quantans Hill, E.On changed their bid to 19 units at 130m. The local communities gave their reactions and opinions at exhibitions and presentations.
In contrast plans for a large wind farm in Cornwall have been abandoned with the developers blaming the Government’s energy market reform. The plan was to build 16 turbines each with a height of 130m. The site was to be at Davidstowe. The original plan was for 20 turbines but this was rejected by Cornwall Council and was re-planned for 16 turbines.
The company who sought to build the wind farm said it had decided to abandon the plans to build on the old World War 2 Airfield at Davidstowe and one other scheme- Claughton Moor Wind Farm, near Lancaster. These would have provided more than 70MW for the local electricity network, contributed in excess of £100m into the regional economies and created 120 construction jobs.
Rod Wood, managing director of Community Windpower, said:
“It is really disappointing to close our office in Camelford, make staff redundant, shut down our renewable energy developments in England and write off millions of pounds of investment. The Government has been constantly shifting its position on UK renewables and it’s now planning to rush through an auction process which is likely to crash the price at best, or in the worst case, stop generators selling green energy altogether.”
Let us hope the politicians in the UK take note of this.
Finally, developers of the planned wind farm to be sited off the Dorset coast have announced further changes to the boundary which remove the northernmost part – the ‘top triangle’- altogether. That was the part closest to the coast. This follows previous changes to the northernmost boundary that were made in December 2012 following navigational concerns for shipping.
These latest changes will move the site some 3.8km further away from the shore and are in response to feedback received from the public and statutory consultees during the final round of consultation last year. The number of 5MW turbines will fall from 218 to 194. If the wind park is granted development consent with these adjustments it will have a maximum installed capacity of 970MW, generating enough wind energy to power approximately 710,000 homes.
Mike Unsworth, Project Director at Navitus Bay, said:
“We have always listened to and acted upon the feedback we receive from our public consultations and our statutory consultees. We hope that local residents and statutory consultees who have expressed concern about the wind park will welcome today’s announcement.”
This is an excellent example of how in the UK interested parties can balance the need to reduce the visual impact from the shore while ensuring that the project will still make an important contribution to sustainable energy generation in the UK and to the local economy in the shape of jobs and investment. It can be done!
