An application under Section 36 of the Electricity Act 1989 for a wind farm and battery storage facility on land adjacent to the former Greenburn open cast coal mine near New Cumnock, East Ayrshire, has been lodged by REG Greenburn Limited.
The proposed Greenburn Wind Farm comprises 16 wind turbines with a generating capacity of 67.2MW and a battery storage facility of 10MW capacity. The Section 36 application and all associated documents are available to be viewed or downloaded on the REG project website www.greenburnwindpark.co.uk.
The Section 36 application public consultation period is now open.
The current restrictions in place relating to the Covid-19 pandemic prevent the public inspection of hard copies of the Section 36 application, alongside the plan showing the land to which it relates and the accompanying Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Report, which would normally have been available at the New Cumnock library and East Ayrshire Council offices in Kilmarnock.
Therefore, as an interim measure, REG Greenburn Limited has sent a digital copy of the full application to all community councils neighbouring the proposed Greenburn Wind Farm.
Hard copies of the Non-Technical Summary – including a hard copy of the visualisations of the proposed development will be posted out to the’ 9CCG group’ and the community councils when current restrictions allow.
The Section 36 application has been lodged following an 18-month long public consultation process that included a series of exhibitions in Cumnock, New Cumnock, Auchinleck and Ochiltree and meetings with community councils, community development trusts, local businesses and residents. REG Greenburn Limited also consulted with all statutory bodies including Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH), Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) and Scottish Forestry.
Key Facts
- Number of turbines: 16 turbines (NB: reduced by 4 turbines as a result of the consultation and EIA design process, compared to the original proposals).
- Size of turbines: A maximum tip height of 149.9m
- Battery Storage: Plans to co-locate battery storage with the wind farm to maximise the use of the grid connection
- Lifespan: 35 years of operation
- Current land use: Commercial Forestry (adjacent to the former open cast coal mine)
- Grid connection: Underground cables to a new substation, on site. The connection of the proposal to the National Grid will be subject to a separate application.
REG Greenburn Limited 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, for the communities within 10km of the proposed Greenburn Wind Farm.
Initial discussions with local community councils and East Ayrshire Council, suggest that the community benefit 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 Limited will continue discussions with community councils and other organisations about the community benefit fund as the application progresses.
Speaking about the project, Melvyn McKeown, Project Manager for REG Greenburn Limited said, “We would like to thank everyone who has taken the time over the past 18 months to respond to our consultation and to give us their views. This has been invaluable in helping us prepare our final proposals.”
“The Greenburn Wind Farm project will deliver clean energy and help Scotland to achieve its ambitious net-zero carbon emissions goal by 2045.”
“Greenburn Wind Farm 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 will continue to engage with the all stakeholders through to a determination of the application.”
Any representations to the Section 36 application may be submitted via the Energy Consents Unit website; by email to the Scottish Government, Energy Consents Unit mailbox at representations@gov.scot; or by post to the Scottish Government, Energy Consents Unit, 4th Floor, 5 Atlantic Quay, 150 Broomielaw, Glasgow, G2 8LU, identifying the proposal and specifying the grounds for representation. Please note that during Covid-19 restrictions there will be a delay in receiving representations by post.
