Harestanes South Windfarm Extension

Location

Located in the National Forest Estate of Ae, south west Scotland, within Dumfries and Galloway, the site lies to the south of the operational Harestanes Windfarm.

Current Stage

ScottishPower Renewables (SPR) has submitted a S36 planning application to the Scottish Governments Energy Consents Unit (ECU) for an extension to add around 45MW of generating capacity to the existing operational Harestanes Windfarm.

The proposed design has been reached following feedback from consultees and communities. A comprehensive suite of environmental surveys has also informed the proposed design including local ecology, archaeology, hydrology, ornithology and access. Turbine positions and associated infrastructure have evolved through an iterative design process to achieve a final layout sympathetic to environmental constraints and the surrounding landscape.

Copies of the submitted documentation can be found below in the 'Project Documents' section below.

Following identification of a previously unknown telecommunications link, SPR has submitted an Addendum to the Section 36 Application to the ECU in June 2022. The purpose of the Addendum is to re-locate a turbine by 64m, to be outwith the zone of interference of this telecommunication link. The Addendum also contains an updated cumulative landscape and visual assessment.

Project History

This project is a result of SPR’s partnership with Forestry and Land Scotland, where SPR has rights to investigate the feasibility of onshore renewables projects within the National Forest Estate in south west Scotland.

SPR completed construction and began operating Harestanes Windfarm in 2014 and has identified the area to the south of Harestanes Windfarm as having excellent potential to be an extension to this site.

In July 2020 SPR installed a met mast at Brownmoor Hill to gather data on wind conditions at the site.

Planning permission has been granted for a further met mast at Main Rig to provide further information about wind conditions across the site.

Community Consultation

Early consultation is key to the way SPR develops projects, and throughout the process SPR ensure local communities and stakeholders are given the opportunity to provide feedback.

In May 2020, a local leafleting and newspaper advertising campaign was carried out in the local area to ensure residents were kept informed of project progress.

A second public consultation exercise was undertaken in September 2020 in the form of an online Virtual Public Information Event. This event was promoted through local leafleting and newspaper advertising. The event presented how the design of the proposal had evolved to take on board public and consultee feedback as well as the findings of the completed environmental studies and assessments.

SPR is keen that you can continue to find out more about the project and how it is progressing. You can contact the project team on the project mail box address noted in the "Contact" section below.

Benefits and Enhancements

SPR has been working alongside communities across the UK for nearly two decades and has, to date, contributed more than £13 million in benefit funds to support initiatives and projects for those communities local to its windfarm sites in Dumfries and Galloway.

The flexible approach adopted by SPR has empowered local communities to decide what their community benefit is spent on. This has resulted in a diverse range of projects being delivered, including environmental improvements, educational programmes, heritage projects, the purchase of a community minibus, provision of defibrillators, contributions towards energy costs for those in the local community, energy efficiency measures in community buildings and much more.

Should Harestanes South Windfarm Extension be consented, the additional local benefits noted in the graphic below would also be provided:

HarestanesGraphic1

The graphic below highlights some socio-economic benefits predicted as a result of the proposed windfarm:

HarestanesGraphic2

^{*Subject to Agreement}

^{[1] - Harestanes South forecast capacity factor/yield = 90,666MWh (45MW x 8,760 hours/year x 0.23 (BEIS annual onshore wind capacity factor (2021), published March 2022)) / UK average household electricity consumption of 3,748KWh (BEIS; Sub-National Electricity and Gas Consumption Statistics, Dec 2021) = energy production for 24,190 homes https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1064290/ET_6.1_MAR_22.xlsx}