Written by Jamie McKenzie
Early plans have been submitted to build a windfarm in Caithness which has
been criticised for its potential to increase consumers’ electricity bills.
E-on has proposed the Camster II windfarm which would have 14 turbines,
standing up to 415ft tall, to be built about 4.4 miles south-west of Wick
and generate up to 48.3 megawatts (MW). Plans are in their scoping stages.
But Caithness-based industry watcher Stuart Young pointed out that nearly
£473,000 was paid to E-on between March and August last year, the latest
figures obtained from the Renewable Energy Foundation, to compensate the
company for the times it shut down its operational 25-turbine Camster windfarm.
These so-called “constraint payments” are frequently awarded for switching
off turbines to avoid overloading the national grid.
Constrained off oil, gas or coal generators are paid for the loss of sale
of electricity for shutting down, but they give the national grid a rebate
for the saving on fuel. However, constrained off wind generators lose both
the sale of electricity and their subsidy, and compensation is more expensive.
Mr Young says that, in practice, wind is only constrained off if the
national grid has to deal with excess generation and has exhausted all
cheaper options, putting wind generators in a strong negotiating position.
He added: “The point is that Camster I can’t sell its electricity and gets
paid over the odds. So how is Camster II a good idea? It’s not needed and
not wanted and the costs simply get put onto the consumer.”
E-on submitted a scoping report in 2013 for the proposed development to
Scottish Ministers for up to 55 turbines. However, this was put on hold
and, in the interim, the company progressed its designs and decided to
downsize the windfarm’s capacity.
The proposed Campster II development would be sited within the Achaim
Forest, which is actively managed by Forestry Commission Scotland.
In its scoping report, the applicant has pledged to provide an equivalent
of £5,000/MW of installed capacity per year as community funding over the
operational life of the development.
An E-on spokeswoman said: “The recently submitted scoping report formally
starts our extensive consultation process for our Camster II wind farm
proposal.
“In the coming months we plan to hold a series of public events when we’ll
be happy to discuss our plans. Details of these events will be released
shortly and we encourage people to attend to find out more and meet members
of the project team.”
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