KEN SMITH The West of Scotland doesn’t really do picturesque villages. They tend to rear up on either side of a main road with a housing scheme tacked on at the back, and then disappear again. The village green with bell-toiling church, village inn, and thatched cottages must have appeared Read more
By Jamie Buchan Anti-windfarm campaigners are preparing to fight plans for a major turbine development in western Perthshire. Wind energy specialist Green Cat Renewables has tabled a bid to build nine towers – each taller than the Wallace monument – on land between Comrie and Braco. A proposal for four Read more
By Scott McCulloch The Scottish Government has granted a marine licence for a five turbine floating offshore wind farm development. The Hywind pilot scheme, which will be delivered by Norwegian energy giant Statoil, will see turbines anchored to the seabed by a three-point mooring system near Buchan Deep, roughly 18 Read more
Energy companies have warned that subsidy cuts will prevent them from replacing old wind farms as almost 1,000 turbines approach the end of their lives over the next decade. Turbines are designed to last 20-25 years, and increasing numbers will reach the end of their serviceable life during the next Read more
Star Letter in this week’s Scottish Field
Andrew Denholm SCOTLAND is to become home to the world’s largest floating offshore windfarm. An application for a marine licence for the Hywind development off the north east coast has been approved by the Scottish Government. Leading energy company Statoil will develop a pilot park of five floating turbines located Read more
Bob Smith, Editor The Scottish Government has turned down plans for a windfarm on a highly sensitive Highlands site because the company applying for permission didn’t exist at the time of the submission. Opponents of the Rannoch Moor scheme said they highlighted irregularities in the application 10 months ago. Campaigners, Read more