ScottishPower Renewables has restarted construction work on its 30MW Halsary wind farm in the Scottish Highlands ,after construction was halted in March due to the coronavirus lockdown.
A spokesperson for the developer confirmed personnel remobilised to the site of the planned 15-turbine development last week.
The wind farm will feature hardware with 120-metre tip heights.
Construction began last September, with RTS Forestry commencing felling clearance at the site in October.
Tesco has signed a power purchase agreement to offtake electricity from the project, which is due to connect to the grid this year.
SPR has also confirmed that it is continuing with grid connection work for Muirhall’s 48MW Crossdykes and RPMI Railpen’s 18.8MW Tralorg wind farms.
Turbine construction was completed at Tralorg, which BayWa is building and asset-managing, at the start of this year.
SPR also restarted construction at its 50MW Beinn an Tuirc 3 wind farm in South Kintyre last week, citing Scottish government which said projects “critical to the safe and secure operation of the system in the short to medium term” qualified as essential despite lockdown rules.
However, the guidance specifically ruled out new build projects not due to connect within the next 12 months.
The Scottish government has maintained rules which say all non-essential construction work should stop.
The move to restart work at Beinn an Tuirc 3 during the lockdown, with workers travelling from Ireland, has triggered controversy in the local area.
ScottishPower said it had appointed a dedicated liaison officer and would continue an “open and transparent dialogue” with the community around its work as well as putting in place a number of “extraordinary” safety measures.
A Scottish government spokesperson said: “While activity to protect the security of Scotland’s energy supply is essential, as the generation, transmission and distribution of electricity is a key part of our critical national infrastructure, we have emphasised that businesses engaged in new build construction work should comply with Scottish Government‘s construction guidance.
“We expect all businesses to act responsibly and to take action to protect their workers and the wider public.
“Ministers have urged Scottish Power and others to ensure there is meaningful dialogue with local communities about any decision to resume activity and to listen and respond to any concerns raised.
“We know and welcome that Scottish Power are actively engaging with the local community and their elected representatives to discuss their project and proposed approach.”
SPR have said access tracks will be made available for public use once the Halsary wind farm is operational, and that the site would be restored to blanket blog to “allow grater habitat connectivity with the surrounding peatlands”.
https://renews.biz/60192/covid-19-scottishpower-restarts-halsary-construction/
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