July 4, 2013
Scotland

Row as firm’s 10-turbine wind farm plan submitted

Ewan Fergus, News Reporter | Evening Times | 04/07/2013 | www.eveningtimes.co.uk

Controversial plans have been unveiled for a wind farm on a beauty spot overlooking the Clyde.

Greenock-based 2020 Renewables has submitted its detailed planning application for Inverclyde Wind Farm, near Corlic Hill, Greenock.

The company is proposing to construct a 10-turbine wind farm with an installed capacity of up to 30 MW.

A similar scheme for a larger wind farm in the area was thrown out after a public inquiry in 2005. If councillors give the scheme the green light, the firm says it would produce enough clean energy to power 18,500 homes and cut carbon emissions by 34,000 tonnes.

2020 Renewables says the plan follows an “extensive programme of community engagement” which has involved public exhibitions in Port Glasgow, Greenock and Kilmacolm, as well as presentations to community groups across Inverclyde.

It also promises that local groups could see an annual “community benefit” of up to £150,000 a year over the lifetime of the wind farm and that it would improve access into Clyde Muirshiel Regional Park, boosting the area’s leisure credentials.

Alasdair MacLeod, 2020 Renewables development director, said: “Our consult-ation on Inverclyde Wind Farm has been extensive and a detailed application has now been submitted. We hope to secure consent as soon as possible so that we can bring the benefits of renewables to our own local community and local businesses.”

But campaign group Keep Corlic Wild has started a petition calling on councillors to scrap the bid. Its spokesman said: “The Corlic Hill area between Greenock and Port Glasgow of Clyde Muirshiel Regional Park is a beautiful and diverse natural space that needs protected from industrialisation.

“Our local heritage and archaeology, including a scheduled Roman Fortlet and roundhouse, should be preserved. Our hillsides along the Lower Clyde should be free from turbines to protect tourism in the area.”

2020 Renewables is also behind the construction of a five-turbine farm near Eagles-ham in East Renfrewshire.

Construction of the AOE Wind Farm, which stands for Ardoch Farm and Over Enoch Road, is to begin shortly.

Earlier this month 2020 Renewables won the Green-ock Chamber of Commerce Bee’s Knees award for Emerging Industries.

It is now one of Europe’s largest independent renew-able energy companies with a capital spend of more than £700million over the next three years.

The Evening Times revealed last month that South Lanarkshire has 384 wind turbines on wind farms of four or more turbines, generating enough electricity to power 450,000 homes.

A report by South Lanark-shire Council’s planning committee revealed a further 200 sites now have planning permission for three or fewer turbines, with the turbines yet to be constructed.

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2013/07/04/row-as-firms-10-turbine-wind-farm-plan-submitted/