SSE has submitted a proposal to the Scottish Government for Fairburn extension wind farm, located to the south of Loch Achonachie in Strathconon, Ross-shire.
If it's given the go ahead, the wind farm will have 12 turbines and a 36MW generation capacity. Which is a significant reduction in the size of the wind farm, which was originally designed to have 35 turbines before consultation.
The extension will be adjacent to the operational 20-turbine 40MW Fairburn wind farm, opened in 2010. The development has been carefully designed to minimise impact on local communities, sensitive landscape areas and to be in keeping with the existing wind farm, of which it will share a significant amount of energy infrastructure and access roads.
If the application is successful, it is expected that the construction and operation of the wind farm would bring investment of over £25m to the local area and over £40m to the wider region. It is also estimated the wind farm will create over 187 job years* in the Highland region.
Around 90 members of the local community attended public exhibitions in Contin, Kilmorack, Marybank, Muir of Ord, Strathconon and Strathpeffer during June to learn more about the proposal, with over two-thirds of attendees registering their support for the scheme.
SSE’s Head of Onshore Development, Neil Lannen, said: “Fairburn extension wind farm is a well-sited project that has the broad support of the local community. If consented, it will deliver real social and economic benefits to the local area and will make a significant contribution to the country’s renewable energy targets.
“Since the proposal was first outlined early last year, we’ve conducted a positive consultation with stakeholders and local residents that has influenced the final design of the wind farm. Both the size of the scheme and the height of the turbines have been reduced, minimising the visual and landscape impact of the project.
“If consented, the wind farm will provide £4.5m of support to community projects in its lifetime, managed by a panel-based community investment fund. Opportunities for local business will also be encouraged through key initiatives such as our Open4business procurement channel and our partnership with the University of the Highlands and Islands.”
*A job year is the equivalent of one person working full-time for one year or two people working full-time for six months