October 27, 2016
Scotland

Levenmouth turbine plan in jeopardy

Fife Today | 26 October 2016 | www.fifetoday.co.uk

A controversial plan to erect an 81m wind turbine in the grounds of New Bayview may be scuppered because of a Scottish Water pipe.

Ore Valley Housing Association had hoped to build the turbine by March and generate a £750k dividend for the Levenmouth community by selling electricity to the National Grid over the next two decades.

However, preconstruction utlity checks last week discovered a pressurised waste pipe five metres underground which connects directly to Levenmouth’s waste water treatment plant.

Andrew Saunders, CEO of Ore Valley, said: “There’s been a lot of time and effort spent on this project and this is devastating.

“Saying that, if we had gone on site and a big machine had punctured this pipe we would have been in a serious mess.”

The turbine application was rejected by planners three years ago but succesfully appealed one year later,

To qualify for renewable energy subsidies for the £1.75 million project, Ore Valley must complete by March.

Net profits of £1.5 million would be split between a common good fund for Levenmouth and social housing projects across Fife.

Mr Saunders said: “We are now exploring the technical options, which are either to divert the pipe, or relocate the turbine.

“Neither of these options is particularly straight forward given the time pressures that we are operating within and completion of the project is now in jeopardy.”

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2016/10/27/levenmouth-turbine-plan-in-jeopardy/