A huge £2 billion wind farm spearheaded by an Irish firm is hanging by a thread over bird concerns
The company behind the farm, which was to be built off the Scottish coast, has lost a crucial legal case.
A £2 BILLION wind farm that was set to be developed by an Irish company is on the verge of being scrapped after losing a crucial legal battle.
The Neart Na Gaoithe project would include up to 125 turbines across an area of about 100 sq km off the east Scottish coast, making it one of the largest offshore wind projects in the UK.
Development on the project, which was estimated to cost £2 billion (€2.4 billion), was being led by Dublin-based Mainstream Renewable Energy. It would have had a capacity of 450 megawatts, enough to meet the annual energy demands of about 325,000 homes.
Mainstream said it would be able to to power the homes in a city the size of Edinburgh.
The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) lodged a challenge to the construction of the 646 metre-tall turbines last year, which have already received planning permission from the Scottish government.
The society claimed that Neart Na Gaoithe and three other wind farms recently approved in Scotland pose “too great a risk to the many thousands of resident and migratory seabirds”.
Reconsider permission
A judge ruled in favour of RSBP’s claim that there were flaws in the way that the Scottish government granted planning permission for four large wind farms, including Neart na Gaoithe.
He ordered that Scottish ministers will have to reconsider the decisions on whether to grant planning permissions for the developments.
It was feared that the wind farms could kill thousands of seabirds such as puffins
The head of conservation policy at RSPB Scotland, Lloyd Austin, said that the organisation is “encouraged” by the decision of the court, which he said recognised the risks the wind farms posed to seabirds.
“However, we also remain resolutely supportive of the development of renewable energy sources in Scotland. We will continue to work with developers and all levels of government to ensure this happens in a way that does not threaten Scotland’s fantastic wildlife,” he said.
‘Not the end’
Mainstream, headed up by Airtricity founder Eddie O’Connor, was planning to take the venture to a construction-ready stage before selling it on.
A spokesman for the company told Fora that the decision “is not the end of the project”.
“It continues to make sense for the economies of Scotland and the UK and for the environment,” he said.
“We have only just received notification of the outcome of the judicial review and at this point we must wait for the Scottish government’s decision to appeal or not before we can decide on our next move.”
The ruling is a further blow to the project, which had already been in doubt after it lost a crucial subsidy earlier this year.
The subsidy had guaranteed that the government would pay a minimum price for each unit of electricity produced by the wind farm, which made it viable for development.
This grant was later revoked after Mainstream failed to meet a minimum spend on the project, in part because of the judicial review.
