Community Windpower Limited (CWL) announces that it has undertaken a re-design of its Scoop Hill Community Wind Farm scheme, a 75-turbine development originally submitted to the Scottish Government and Dumfries and Galloway Council in November 2020.
Scoop Hill Community Wind Farm is located in Dumfries and Galloway, approximately 5km south east of Moffat. Following extensive and iterative discussions with consultees and the local community, Community Windpower has made a number of revisions to the proposed development.
During the consultation period, comments were raised by consultees and local residents, primarily relating to landscape and visual impacts, residential amenity, cultural heritage, dark skies and golden eagles.
Initially submitted as a 75-turbine scheme, Scoop Hill Community Wind Farm will now consist of 60 turbines and a battery storage facility. This removal of 15 turbines is equivalent to a reduction of 20% of the original proposal. The changes to the proposed development also include a reduction in the tip heights of four turbines in the southern part of the scheme.
Another positive change has been the adoption of a reduced aviation night-time lighting scheme, which has now been approved by the Civil Aviation Authority and the Ministry of Defence. The reduced lighting scheme includes the lighting of just 17 perimeter turbines with visible aviation lighting on the nacelle only, which is a significant improvement compared to the original submission.
CWL are also very pleased to announce that the community benefit funding provided to the host communities will now be £5,000 per megawatt (MW) in line with the Scottish Government guidance on community benefits. This will equate to £2.16 million per annum for the 40-year operational life of the wind farm. We are committed to maintaining strong working relationships with the local host communities, to provide them with long-term economic, social, and environmental benefits.
The Additional Information documentation will be submitted to the Energy Consents Unit (ECU) in Spring 2023, and it will include a detailed explanation of all the changes made to the proposed development. Community Windpower will be organising and attending a myriad of Community Council meetings and public exhibitions in the coming months, and these will be advertised on the Scoop Hill Community Wind Farm website, our social media channels, and in local newspapers.
Rebecca Elliott, Senior Project Manager for Scoop Hill Community Wind Farm, said: “We are delighted to present these design alterations for our next-generation scheme at Scoop Hill. We have taken on board comments raised by consultees and the local community and have made significant, positive changes to the proposed layout, whilst also ensuring that clean, green energy will be generated to assist the Scottish Government with its Just Transition to Net Zero by 2045. I look forward to discussing the updated proposal with the community in the coming months.”
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