Go ahead for Scottish wind farms

Dumfries and Galloway Council has given the green light to two new onshore wind farms with a combined capacity of more than 65MW.

Element Power’s new scheme, north of Carshpairn, features 12 turbines and a capacity of 40.8MW – enough to power 20,000 homes. Meanwhile, Muirhall Energy will develop its 8-turbine Loganhead farm near Langholm.

Muirhall’s scheme, which will have a capacity of approximately 25.6MW, will be situated close to its recently approved Crossdykes wind farm.

Both developers have signed community benefit agreements. Element Power’s scheme will provide £200,000 a year to support neighbouring communities, while Muirhall has committed to a package of £128,000 a year as well as a 10 per cent share in the wind farm.

Alastair Yule, senior development manager at Muirhall, said: “We are clearly delighted that the planning committee followed the officer’s recommendation to approve our planning application for Loganhead Wind Farm.

Throughout this whole process we worked constructively with all consultees to deliver a well-designed wind farm, sympathetic to the local landscape and environment .”

Stuart Davidson, project manager for Element Power, said: “We have worked hard on the proposal for 4 years.  We have worked closely with local communities, reflecting and acting on feedback from consultees and have refined our plans to make sure that they are acceptable.

“We look forward to continue working closely with the community and local businesses as we now take the scheme forward.”

The approvals come after the UK government last week that it had applied to the European Commission for permission to allow onshore wind farms on the Scottish Islands to compete for Contracts for Difference (CfD) subsidies.