Development projects are often faced with delays and challenges, but WJM
has the expertise and a successful track record of delivering planning
permission for renewables projects.
Environmental Law is a fast and evolving area of legal expertise – with
Wright, Johnston & Mackenzie having both the knowledge and experience in
the renewables sector to assist businesses and developers in their net zero
goals.
By Anthony Harrington
AS with any large project, navigating the process of obtaining finance,
getting consent for and building an onshore wind farm, is filled with legal
minefields and elephant traps abound for the unwary.
There are a lot of moving parts to these projects, and every new wind farm
development poses its own challenges. It will also have its own set of
local communities that need to be consulted and involved if the project is
going to succeed.
The key point to emphasise though, says Andy McFarlane, Head of Renewables
at the law firm, Wright, Johnston & Mackenzie, is that each project that
makes it through the consenting process has a vital contribution to make.
By contributing sustainably to Scotland’s energy needs, these projects help
to get the whole country that much closer to achieving the Scottish
Government’s ambitious Net Zero goals.
McFarlane’s involvement in the renewables space with WJM goes back at least
20 years. “As a law firm, we are not ourselves the inspirational
entrepreneurs driving the energy transition. But we have worked for a long
time now in partnership with a very inspirational industry, helping to
bring renewables projects to fruition,” he comments.
WJM has been involved in the sector since the 1990s, both with early
onshore wind projects and with small- and large-scale hydroelectric schemes
and more recently in the rise of battery storage projects.
In some ways, renewables projects are similar to other ‘build’ projects
that require planning permission. However, they also have a number of
unique features that do not have real parallels in other sectors.
Developers in other sectors will be largely focused on maximising their
return for their development on the land in front of them.
They may, for example, be expected to have a social benefit side to the
project to succeed in the planning process. They will have to involve the
local community, perhaps promising to use local labour and/or including
local amenities such as a community centre or shopping centres in the project.
By way of contrast, the renewables sector has always provided “added value”
in the form of community and environmental benefits beyond the footprint of
the project itself. One of the central considerations for an onshore wind
project will be to work out with the local community how they and the owner
of the land on which the wind farm is to be situated, will benefit
financially from the project.
“The wind farm project team begin meeting with the local community right
from the inception of the project, well before anything goes for planning
approval,” McFarlane comments.
The liaison with the community is likely to be through the whole
development and construction phase of the project. The goal in the early
stages will be to facilitate the local community’s efforts to define
exactly what benefits they expect the project to deliver for them.
Is there the possibility, for example, of the community taking some sort of
financial stake in the project and reaping a long-term financial return
from it?
McFarlane points out that the old models, which held sway a decade or so
ago, where local councils would have a substantial say over how community
benefit contribution would be spent are now changing.
They are giving way too much more community centred models with developers
working with local community bodies to determine how funds will be spent
for the benefit of the community.
Clearly, one of the benefits of getting a strong buy-in from local
communities at an early stage of a new project is that it can help to chart
a smoother path through the consent process.
All other things being equal, planning officials tend to favour projects
that have solid support from the local community. McFarlane notes that much
has changed since the early days of onshore wind development when
politicians and others sought to garner support by vociferously opposing
every new wind farm development.
He points out that the old ‘blight on the landscape’ argument, which used
to be levelled at onshore wind projects, is fading into history and
justifiably so.
“People are now much more aware of the dangers of excessive climate change
and hence of the need to support the Scottish Government’s Net Zero policy
and maximise the rich renewables resource which Scotland has,” he comments.
This is helping to bring about a sea change in the way planning officials
approach the consent process. Plus, project developers now have a richer
understanding of what is required from the visual and environmental impact
studies that they have to produce in support of their projects.
“What you find today is that wind farms are much more carefully situated so
that they do not impact sensitive sites or areas of outstanding natural
beauty. The onshore wind industry received a lot of bad press in the early
days, but the majority of the public now know that these projects really do
help us to transition away from fossil fuels to heat and power our homes,”
he comments.
The plain fact is that onshore wind farms are now a vital part of the UK
and Scotland’s energy mix. The journey to Net Zero is rooted in the
ability to learn and continuously develop best industry practices to
deliver the results we need and the renewables industry is at the forefront
of this drive.
“Renewables projects contribute in a very benevolent way and have a very
low carbon impact. In the early days, wind farms tended to be regarded as
just another land project but we are constantly seeing our clients
developing increasingly efficient projects and ground-breaking technology
in order to promote green energy as central to a green economy,” he points
out.
Grid connectivity is always a big issue with these projects.
It frequently poses some difficult challenges, particularly where a project
is situated a good distance from both the grid and from potential
end-users. Where a prospective wind farm site is located close to large
energy users, the developer will want to try to secure a long term energy
contract with one or more of those users.
“What we are trying to do in Scotland is to show that you can develop a
wind farm that works commercially for the developer and the investors and
that is nevertheless a win-win for the local community and for the country
as a whole,” he concludes
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