East Ayrshire Council’s Planning Committee has decided today (25 September 2020) to raise no objection to the Greenburn Wind Farm and Battery Storage plans.
REG Greenburn Ltd has welcomed the progress of the application through East Ayrshire Council. As a Section 36 project, the application will eventually be determined by the Scottish Government, with East Ayrshire Council as a key consultee. The project has received no environmental objection from consultees such as NatureScot (formerly known as SNH), Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA), Historic Environment Scotland (HES) and Forestry Scotland.
The proposals, on land adjacent to the former Greenburn open cast coal mine near New Cumnock, are for 16 turbines with a capacity of 67.2MW and a battery storage facility of 10MW, which will help create a more flexible grid system.
The site is located in East Ayrshire Council’s preferred area for wind development and takes in some of the land earmarked for the East Ayrshire Coalfield Communities Landscape Project, approximately 4.5km to the west of New Cumnock.
If the project is consented and constructed, REG Greenburn Ltd has committed to paying £5,000 per MW of installed capacity into a community benefit fund. Based on current technology, this could mean up to £336,000 a year/£11.8m over the 35-year lifetime of the wind farm, to be divided among the communities within 10km of the site. The funding could be used to help support a variety of long-lasting initiatives and good causes including apprenticeships and training; local regeneration; open space improvements and support for local clubs and groups. REG Greenburn Ltd has reached agreement on the distribution of the community benefit fund between nine local community councils and the East Ayrshire Coalfields Community Landscape Partnership.
Melvyn McKeown, Project Manager for REG Greenburn Ltd said:
"We welcome the decision by councillors to raise no objection to our Greenburn proposals - this decision underlines the Council’s support for the green recovery and local jobs. We have worked extremely hard to bring forward an acceptable proposal and the site is in East Ayrshire Council’s preferred area for wind development.
“We would like to thank everyone who has taken the time to speak with us on our proposals and help shape the project to date.
“The development, if consented and constructed, will create direct and indirect economic benefits including the potential for local jobs during the construction period and a range of contracts that local firms will be encouraged to bid for. We have also engaged extensively on community benefit and investment programmes with community representatives and appreciate their input into the project.
“The wind farm and battery storage scheme will be sited on a former open cast coal mine, next to the restored land, to harness clean energy and help Scotland to achieve its ambitious net-zero emissions goal by 2045.”