ScottishPower and RES UK have been granted planning permission by Scottish Borders Council for a 30MW, 35 turbine extension to Dun Law wind farm south of Soutra. The combined 61 turbine wind farm will provide enough green energy for 24,000 homes and will reduce carbon emissions equivalent to taking 35,000 cars off the road.
The decision comes after a full public consultation process with the local community and over 40 organizations. A short tendering process will now begin for the GBP30 million project with construction expected to start later this year.
As with the original wind farm, the jointly developed scheme will be constructed by RES and owned and operated by ScottishPower.
The existing wind farm has operated a community fund that has supported a range of very worthwhile local initiatives. The extension will increase significantly the community fund to allow more ambitious community projects to be supported throughout the wind farm’s life, said Allan Kelly, ScottishPower’s project manager.
Ray Hunter, RES’s Scottish development manager, explained: We are delighted with the committee’s decision today. It reflects the efforts of RES and ScottishPower to ensure the extension at Dun Law will have a pleasing appearance and will blend well with the existing wind farm.
Visually, the landform works well to shield the existing wind farm from most directions and we’ve been careful to make sure that this will also be the case for the extension. We’ve also selected a turbine size that is in keeping with the existing scheme rather than going for the larger machines now available.
ScottishPower is the largest generator of wind energy in the UK with 14 projects generating 271 MW.