Wind Power News: Scotland
These news and opinion items are gathered by National Wind Watch 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.
Wind farm campaign group calls for help from supporters over petition change
A pressure group that campaigns against large-scale wind farms is calling for help from the public following a change in the way petitions to the Scottish Parliament are managed. Scotland Against Spin (SAS) lodged a petition in March 2021 seeking stronger powers for communities to influence planning decisions relating to onshore wind. The group has voiced concern over wind farms in Caithness and Sutherland and other parts of the Highlands. The petition to the Scottish Parliament’s Citizen Participation and Public . . . Complete story »
Petition response raises hopes of communities having more say on wind farms
Hopes that communities can have a greater say in major wind farm developments affecting their area have been lifted by a parliamentary committee’s response to a petition on the issue. It asks the Scottish Government to look at ways of ensuring that “demonstration of local support is a key material consideration in the decision-making process”. In March 2021, Scotland Against Spin lodged a petition seeking stronger powers for communities to influence planning decisions relating to onshore wind. The group has . . . Complete story »
Scots ignite UN probe over public rights to challenge on planning
A United Nations body has begun a probe into whether the Scottish and UK governments have broken international law through a failure to give the public the right of challenge over planning decisions that would damage the nation’s precious environment, landscape and wildlife, it can be revealed. A coalition of campaign groups from Planning Democracy, Environmental Rights Centre for Scotland, Friends of the Earth Scotland and RSPB Scotland, submitted a formal complaint over the failure at the end of last . . . Complete story »
Glenfiddich windfarm plans abandoned
A planned windfarm near Dufftown will not be built because the site is “not best suited” to one. The abandoned Glenfiddich Wind Farm development would have featured 11 200-meter turbines, generating over 84MW of green energy. The firm behind the plans, Fred. Olsen Renewables, said the development would have provided over £14 million for the community but the decision to step back was informed by a “vast” number of assessment. A spokesperson for Fred. Olsen Renewables said: “We are proud of . . . Complete story »
Dozens of giant turbines at Scots windfarms powered by diesel generators
Scottish Power admitted 71 of its windmills were hooked up to the fossil fuel supply after a fault developed with their power supply. Dozens of giant turbines on Scotland’s windfarms have been powered by diesel generators, the Sunday Mail can reveal. Scottish Power admitted 71 of its windmills were hooked up to the fossil fuel supply after a fault developed on the grid. The firm said it was forced to act in order to keep the turbines warm during very . . . Complete story »
Campaigners urge Moray and Aberdeenshire councils to think again about any more wind farms
An open letter has been sent to Aberdeenshire and Moray councils expressing concern about the development of more wind farms in the Upper Deveron Valley. The document, signed by community councils, charitable bodies and business owners – including Conservatives Moray MP Douglas Ross and Aberdeenshire West MSP Alexander Burnett – requests an urgent landscape capacity study is undertaken to understand the impact on local communities. The letter calls for urgent action to undertake “an inter-authority regional landscape capacity assessment” and . . . Complete story »
Armadale developers remove three turbines from proposal, increase size of remaining nine
The company behind plans for a controversial wind farm at Armadale in north Sutherland has axed three turbines from the layout. Brookfield Renewables UK Ltd confirmed the move which it said was in response to objections. The original scheme for 12 150-metre high turbines had been due to go before Highland Council’s north planning committee on Wednesday. But the application was withdrawn following the revision. Local objectors have pledged to continue to fight the scheme which they insist will still be . . . Complete story »
‘Unprecedented’ lack of trout in Burn of Lunklet following wind farm construction
Concern has been raised after a new report suggested there may no longer be any trout in the Burn of Lunklet following the construction of the Viking Energy wind farm. The fish monitoring report also said remedial action was “urgently required” at a nearby wind farm borrow pit to curtail pollution in the burn, which has been “substantially impacted by very low pH and high concentrations of a number of metals”. It said the lack of trout in an August . . . Complete story »
Councillors stick to their guns and refuse to lift objection to Strath Oykel Wind Farm despite approach from Scottish Government
North councillors have remained resolute in their decision to raise an objection to a planned Sutherland wind farm. Members of the North Planning Applications Committee were asked by the Scottish Government to reconsider their decision, taken just five months ago, to oppose the proposed Strath Oykel Wind Farm. The move by ministers was made in the light of a new planning policy, National Planning Framework 4, agreed by the Scottish Parliament and set to be adopted at the start of . . . Complete story »
Lorna Slater flees Holyrood chamber rather than face ‘evidence’ she misled Scottish Parliament
Scottish Green co-leader Lorna Slater has been accused of “fleeing” the Holyrood debating chamber during a point of order demanding to know why she “misled” parliament. The SNP/Green administration has come under increasing scrutiny for using inaccurate data over the course of a decade to oversell the prominence of renewable energy potential. There is a clear discrepancy between the dates at which Ms Slater and SNP’s energy minister Michael Matheson discovered Scotland did not have 25 per cent of Europe’s . . . Complete story »
