June 8, 2013
Scotland

Massive 19km cable to tear through Angus countryside

By Beth Cherryman, 8 June 2013 | www.eveningtelegraph.co.uk

It would be one of the biggest projects to hit Tayside.

A massive network of electrical cables is set to tear through 19 kilometres of the Angus countryside.

The Tele examines the impact of the controversial application, which has now been submitted to the council.

The work is linked to a plan to build a windfarm in the Firth of Forth and will transmit the power from a land-based location near Carnoustie to a grid connection point at the existing electricity substation to the north of Dundee.

But while energy campaigners are calling it a “milestone” in renewable energy, people who live in the areas affected say the work will “desecrate a beautiful part of the word”.

Villages currently directly in line of the proposed cable include Kellas and Drumsturdy.

Kellas resident Gordon Laird said he was totally against the plans.

The 84-year-old said: “Why don’t they put it through Edinburgh?

“It’s ridiculous. These projects are desecrating this part of the world.

“I am completely against it.

“I don’t want to see anything disturbing the peace of this beautiful part of the world.

“An underground cable means there will be a lot of digging to be done.”

Other villagers were more accepting of having an infrastructure for windpower so close.

Ken Scott, 74, said: “It’s the year 2013. It seems to be the age of windfarms.

“Unless it was going to disrupt a lot of people, I would not be against the cabling.

“But I will have to see the plans, see how near it is to me and what the cable work would go through.

“I thought Donald Trump saying he didn’t want a windfarm near his golf course was a very selfish attitude.

“At this point I am not 100% against the idea.”

The proposals also include a new substation near Tealing to allow over one gigawatt of power to connect to the national grid system.

A statutory consultation period for the application runs from June 14 to July 12.

Local environmental groups have welcomed the development but said the company should work with affected communities to minimise the disruption.

Andrew Llanwarne, coordinator of Friends of the Earth Tayside, said the cabling is a necessary development.

He said: “We welcome offshore wind developments, but they don’t just happen offshore.

“We need to have the infrastructure in place for us to make the most of offshore windfarms.

“It’s a necessary development. It will cause some disruption. We hope the company involved will follow good practices and work with the community.

“People would probably rather not have to be affected in this way.”

SSE Renewables and Fluor Ltd are behind the project, which is known as Seagreen Wind Energy Ltd.

Graham Mason, business development director renewables at Fluor, said: “This application comes after a significant amount of environmental study and detailed consultation with the relevant stakeholders who we will continue to work with as the application progresses.

“The Firth of Forth Zone has the potential to bring significant socio-economic benefits to the Angus area and beyond.”

Richard Escott, head of offshore development at SSE Renewables, said: “It is great to see another very important milestone achieved with the submission of this onshore consent application for
Phase 1.

“As Scotland’s largest renewable energy project the Firth of Forth Zone has the potential to make a significant contribution to meeting Scotland and the UK’s renewable energy targets.”


URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2013/06/08/massive-19km-cable-to-tear-through-angus-countryside/