Scotland's 'Forest' of Wind Farms

Jun 09 - Scotsman, The

Nearly 600 square kilometres of Scotland - an area bigger than North Lanarkshire - will have to be covered with wind farms to meet renewable energy targets, it was claimed yesterday.

Environmental groups, including the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB), the John Muir Trust and WWF Scotland, have all expressed concern at the emphasis on onshore wind energy at the expense of other sources, such as wave, tidal and micro- renewables.

Anti-wind farm campaigners say it would result in the destruction of the Scottish countryside if such a large area were given over to wind farms.

According to a recent report, "The Power of Scotland", by the Scottish arms of the RSPB, WWF and Friends of the Earth, some 1.4 gigawatts out of 1.6 gigawatts of renewable energy capacity that is planned or being built is being provided by wind farms.

Should this rate of development continue, it would mean that by 2020 more than 4.5 gigawatts (4,500 megawatts) out of a target of 6.5 gigawatts would be provided by wind turbines.

Wind farms in Scotland are roughly able to provide 8MW of electricity for every square kilometre, which would mean some 573 sq km of land given over to wind farms. North Lanarkshire covers an area of 470 sq km.

Bob Graham, of the campaign group Highlands against Wind Farms, said this would devastate the landscape of Scotland.

"I don't think you have to be a rocket scientist to see it is going to destroy what we all accept is Scotland's main selling point," he said. "The countryside of Scotland, something we hold near and dear, is being destroyed."

In April, approval was given to build the biggest onshore wind farm in Europe on moorland at Whitelee, south of East Kilbride, on a site measuring seven miles by four miles.

But the wave-power company Ocean Power Delivery, from Edinburgh, was forced to go to Portugal to build its first major electricity station, despite Scotland having better conditions, because of the current structure of pricing and incentives for renewable energy development.

Environmental groups

have concerns over Scottish Executive policies, which are being reviewed, that make wind farms the main viable way of increasing renewable energy production to meet the target of 40 per cent of energy consumed by 2020.

Clifton Bain, of RSPB Scotland, said: "There is plenty of space in Scotland to deliver much more than the renewable energy target from onshore wind [farms]. The problem is not the total amount of land, but where they are put. At the moment, the planning system isn't steering the developments away from sensitive areas, so we are getting unnecessary conflict.

"But climate change is the biggest threat to the environment and we really want to see our emissions of carbon dioxide reduced."

He said Scotland was rich in wind, wave, tidal and other renewable resources. According to a 2001 study, it could potentially provide 59 gigawatts of renewable electricity, almost enough to power the whole of the UK.

"It seems sensible to utilise that, so we're not harming the environment, and to export some of it to the rest of the UK to help them cut carbon emissions," Mr Bain said.

Helen McDade, from the John Muir Trust, said it was "hugely" concerned about the emphasis on wind farms and the pressure coming from some developers to build them on "wild land" or on the fringes of such areas.

"We are against encroaching on what is already a diminishing resource of wild land," she said. "It's important for a lot of Scots that we retain this resource and don't continue to make inroads into it."

A Scottish Executive spokesman said it was expected that other forms of renewable energy, apart from wind farms, would be developed to help the country meet the 40 per cent target and become "the renewable powerhouse of Europe".

"The Executive is determined that we will meet and exceed our targets by using the widest mix of resources - onshore and offshore wind, wave, tidal, solar, biomass, micro-renewables ... the list goes on," said the spokesman.

See epages for a map of the location of wind farms in Scotland, and also the location of sites in the planning system.