Efforts by the RSPB to block a wind farm could hand its developer a huge unintended bonus.
Mainstream Renewable Power’s proposed Neart na Gaoithe project off Scotland won a subsidy contract from the government in February 2015, guaranteeing a record price of £114.39 per megawatt-hour (MWh) for the electricity it will generate. However, legal challenges by the RSPB, which fears that the turbines will kill seabirds, have prevented it from going ahead. Offshore wind farm costs have since plunged with contracts last week being awarded to projects at £57.50 per MWh.
Mainstream’s contract, known as a CfD, still stands, meaning that if the RSPB’s challenge fails, the project would be able to reap far higher returns. Andy Kinsella, chief executive of Mainstream, said that it intended to sell the project on to other companies and had received interest from at least two dozen prospective buyers.
The government agency that manages the contracts tried to strip Mainstream of the contract after a year of delays but was overruled by an arbitration panel.
The RSPB has argued that the Scottish government failed to properly assess the impact of Neart na Gaoithe and three other proposed wind farms in the firths of Forth and Tay when granting planning permission.
The charity claims that the projects would kill thousands of gannets, puffins, kittiwakes and other seabirds from protected wildlife sites such as the Bass Rock and the Isle of May.
It won a judicial review last summer and had the planning permission quashed but this was reversed on appeal. The RSPB is seeking leave to appeal to the Supreme Court, with a decision expected next month.
“If they don’t get leave to appeal our project can proceed,” Mr Kinsella said. He added that he hoped to conclude a sale of the project within six months of the RSPB action being resolved.
“We are hoping it will work out in our favour,” he said. “The costs have come down, we have a CfD that’s higher than the current auction, so it’s more valuable.”
Mr Kinsella said that if the legal dispute was settled next month the project could be built by October 2021.
Gannets and kittiwakes face slaughter, says charity
The population of gannets on Bass Rock, near the proposed Neart na Gaoithe wind farm, is believed to be the world’s biggest, with more than 150,000 at the peak of the season.
The RSPB fears that the impact of the project and three others in the area could kill more than 1,000 gannets and hundreds of kittiwakes in summer. Puffins are also at risk. The gannet is known for plunging into the water from great height, enabling it to fish much deeper. It has an “amber” status by the RSPB, meaning that it has an unfavourable conservation outlook in Europe.
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