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Wind Power News: U.K.
These news and opinion items are gathered by National Wind Watch in its noncommercial educational effort to help keep readers informed about developments related to industrial wind energy. They do not necessarily reflect the opinions of National Wind Watch. They are the products of and owned by the organizations or individuals noted and are shared here according to “fair use” and “fair dealing” provisions of copyright law.
Planners defer controversial weather mast application
I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from Cambrian News. Read our privacy notice Powys County Councillors have voted to postpone taking a decision on controversial plans for a weather mast near Staylittle. The proposal for a 122.5 metre meteorological mast went before the councillors on Thursday after they rejected the original application in March. A fresh application for the mast by Esgair Galed Energy Park Limited was lodged with the council in April. The firm . . . Complete story »
Fylde wind farm plans could see vital horse riding centre close for good
A ‘lifeline’ horse riding centre could be forced to close if controversial wind farm plans go ahead – despite offering a place of solace for many. In the Fylde, a ‘cable corridor’ described as being ‘wider than the M55’ could be built through the area, from the Irish Sea and to an existing electricity substation in Penwortham. From the Irish Sea, two proposed wind farms could be built in the name of providing green energy for the future. Behind the . . . Complete story »
Newly released data reveal record number of cetacean deaths in UK waters
Shocking: 3000 dead whales, dolphins and porpoises in just 3 years. After months of asking the UK Department for the Environment, Defra, to share the data for cetacean strandings, at last some information is emerging. I’ve been calling on Defra to share the data for some time, and now I’m pleased to see that the 2019 and 2020 reports have been published. At the time of writing this, we are still awaiting the 2021 and 2022 data, but already the . . . Complete story »
So-called green energy wind farms are steadily becoming ever more dark
Sir, – In Orkney we were told that a wind farm due to produce electricity for our island for the next 25 years could be considered in environmental terms dark green. Consider the following, and over their working life decide what shade of green you now think they represent. • The making of the wind turbines in a foreign country using hydrocarbons and chemicals in the process; • Transporting them by sea and road from Europe to Orkney; • The . . . Complete story »
Peat slide near wind farm ‘caused permanent environmental damage’
A peat slide at a site close to one of the UK’s largest onshore wind farms has caused permanent environmental damage, experts have said. Video showed tonnes of peat and stone sliding down a grassy hillside at speed near to the Viking Energy wind farm on Shetland this month. The incident led to work being suspended on the development site, which will feature 103 turbines and is due to become operational this year. Dave Petley, an expert in geological hazards . . . Complete story »
Offshore wind farm fined $42m after regulator probes excessive power prices
UK energy regulator Ofgem has fined an offshore wind farm £33.1m ($42.3m) for charging excessive prices while curtailing output to balance the grid. Beatrice Offshore Windfarm Limited (BOWL), operator of the 588MW project of the same name off Scotland, will pay the money into the regulator’s redress fund for consumers after accepting it breached one of its licence conditions, Ofgem said. The regulator said BOWL’s “prices did not properly reflect the financial benefits of reducing its output related to avoided . . . Complete story »
Shetland peat slide was an ominous warning
A massive peat slide took place in Shetland at the start of this month. A spokesman for Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN) confirmed that the slip happened “in an area of hillside between Upper Kergord and the B9075, where work on our Kergord to Gremista Connection Project is taking place”. SSEN has stated that the site has been closed while safety checks are carried out. There is little doubt that the catastrophic slide, which luckily caused no casualties, resulted . . . Complete story »
‘Voiceless’ residents in whisky country rage against wind farm
Two of Scotland’s richest men are on opposite sides of a row over the future of the Cabrach. They have “the energy to change your world”, boast the developers behind one of the UK’s largest onshore wind farms, but in the beautiful corner of the Grampian mountains where the huge turbines will be sited, no one is dancing in the country roads by way of celebration. This is the Cabrach, a breathtaking swathe of moorland north of the Cairngorms, where . . . Complete story »
Company taking stock over future of Armadale wind farm plan
Brookfield Renewable have not lost interest in going ahead with a wind farm in the north Sutherland village of Armadale. The Canadian-based green energy corporation earlier this month dropped its bid to win planning consent to build nine turbines there. But it has told the local protest group that it is now taking stock “to consider how a development at the site can best serve the community.” Brookfield initially proposed a 23 turbine development which it subsequently downsized, first to . . . Complete story »
Armadale residents celebrate as wind farm bid is withdrawn
Anti-wind farm campaigners are celebrating after the scrapping of plans to develop a nine-turbine scheme on the north Sutherland coast. Armadale Windfarm Action Group (AWAG) hailed the move as “a victory for local democracy”. At the same time, its members are anxiously awaiting to learn if it marks the end of Brookfield Renewable’s interest in the small crofting township, 26 miles west of Thurso. The 150-metre high turbines were earmarked to go up on a tract of hill land and . . . Complete story »
