July 23, 2019
Scotland

Plans for country’s biggest windfarm revealed to public

Sharon Liptrott | Dumfries & Galloway Standard |

Details of what could be the UK’s biggest on-land windfarm are being shown to three Dumfriesshire communities this week.

Developers Community Windpower Ltd, on behalf of CWL Energy Ltd, want to site up to 80 turbines at Scoop Hill – 5 km south east of Moffat and 11km north of Lockerbie.

Each wind turbine would have a maximum tip height of up to 240m – bigger than Blackpool Tower which stands 158m tall.

The proposed facility would have a generating capacity of up 560 megawatts and would make it larger than the UK’s biggest windfarm – Scottish Power’s Whitelee site near Glasgow which has a 539MW capacity.

It would also become the second largest windfarm in Europe.

A scoping report for the Scoop Hill Community Wind Farm was submitted to the Energy Consents Unit in May to set the ball rolling.

As the proposal has a generating capacity over 50MW, once lodged a planning application would be determined by Scottish Ministers.

In the meantime, CWL’s proposals will go on public view today in Boreland Village Hall from 4pm to 7pm.

Two other exhibitions will be held in Moffat Town Hall from 10am to 2pm tomorrow and Wamphray Village Hall from 4pm to 7pm.

North Milk Community Council has said that it will object to the plans and, after feedback from the local community, has drawn up a draft document to go to the Energy Consents Unit.

Raising many objections from noise to planning policy and traffic, along with the cumulative effect with other existing or proposed windfarms along the Annandale Valley, the community council has hit out at the number of turbines proposed and their size as well as their location within the Dryfe Valley.

In their objection, community councillors said: “This size of turbine has only been utilised off-shore at the present time”.

And they pointed out: “They fall into the very large category within Dumfries and Galloway Council’s planning guidance.”

They claim the turbines would be visible from homes and could affect RAF low flying training from Spadeadam.

CWL said: “Scoop Hill Community Wind Farm is strategically-sited and has the potential to make a valuable and substantial contribution to renewable energy generation in Dumfries and Galloway and Scotland.”

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2019/07/23/plans-for-countrys-biggest-windfarm-revealed-to-public/