The company behind plans to develop a 14-turbine windfarm on Lewis have
revealed they intend to increase the size of the development in order to
improve their chances of securing UK Government financial support.
Forsa Energy, who hope to establish the Druim Leathann project near the
village of North Tolsta, is currently – along with the developer of two
much larger windfarms on the island – preparing bids for a Contracts for
Difference auction in 2019.
The mechanism will, if they are successful in getting support, provide the
developers with subsidy to help them under-write the costs of an £800
million inter-connector across the Minch.
Following a recent public consultation meeting in the village of North
Tolsta, Forsa Energy submitted a new planning application for their
project, as the size of the proposed turbines is to be increased from 126
metres to the blade height to 140 metres.
Forsa Energy director of renewable generation Alasdair MacLeod said: “As we
move forward to submit our application for a CfD bid and enter into the
auction – which is a competitive process – we need to ensure we get as much
power out of the individual turbines as possible. We can achieve that by
increasing the tip height of the turbines, though there is a balance to be
struck between increasing the output and ensuring environmental impacts are
acceptable.”
A smaller, single wind turbine already exists near North Tolsta, which is
entirely owned by a community group.
However, Mr MacLeod, who said his project has the support of nearby
residents and crofters, doubted whether a local group would be able to
invest in a project of comparable size or larger to the one proposed by his
company – as some on the island have suggested.
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