Scotland approves two onshore wind farms

THURSO, SCOTLAND - The 52.5-MW Baillie windfarm near Thurso will supply almost 25,000 homes and feed electricity into the upgraded Beauly-Denny power line, which received the go-ahead for an upgrade just recently.

Obtaining permission to construct the controversial £80 million ($130 million) windfarm has taken more than five years, and site preparation for the erection of 21 turbines will get under way this year.

The government also approved an extension to the Rothes windfarm near Elgin, which will boost the facility's generating capacity from 50 MW to 95 MW. The extension means the farm will be capable of supplying more than 20,000 homes. Rothes got the original go-ahead in 2003 and was commissioned by Fred Olsen Renewables in 2005, using 22 2.3-MW turbines. The extension application was made in 2007 and allows the addition of 14 new turbines and a height increase for four turbines that have received consent for construction, but have not yet been built.

"These schemes are good for Scotland's low-carbon economy, and further examples of the action we need to take now to tackle climate change," said Energy Minister Jim Mather. "The north of Scotland has huge renewables potential, and these two schemes will provide tangible, lasting benefits to the communities involved, as well as a reduction in carbon emissions. We are already on track to surpass our target of meeting 31% of electricity demand with renewables by 2011, and a whole range of renewable technologies will play their part in achieving our target of 50% by 2020."

Tom Pottinger, a local farmer that spearheaded the Baillie windfarm project with Norwegian energy utility Statkraft AS, commented on the decision: "We're obviously very pleased with the decision, especially given all the effort, hard work and time we have put into it. It is going to be a great benefit to the community. Though we have got the go-ahead, there's a huge amount of work ahead of us to get the windfarm built and operational."

The Scottish government's ambitious target is to meet 50% of electricity demand from renewables by 2020. In 2008, 22% of the country's electricity demand was met from renewables, and there are high hopes that an interim target of generating 31% of the country's electricity from renewables by next year will be surpassed. Today, there is 6.9 gigawatts of renewables capacity is installed, under construction or has obtained planning permission in Scotland.