Progress is being made for a new £37 million community owned windfarm on Lewis.
Community groups within the Stornoway Trust area are collaborating in talks to build seven turbines on the Arnish moor off the Lochs Road.
Community Energy Scotland (CES) is helping to facilitate the project.
The Stornoway Trust is encouraging the development which would be on estate land near to the existing three generators at the junction to Grimshader -
The next stage is looking at establishing an umbrella trust with community shareholders and seek out potential lenders for the construction works.
Community councils and grazing committees between North Tolsta, Stornoway, Sandwick, Point and the wider Laxdale and Newvalley area were invited to come onboard.
All councillors in these areas were also invited to spread the word or inform local groups.
Eighteen groups have expressed an interest in the project which is at an early stage. Many risks lie ahead, including accessing funding, the need to secure a grid connection and obtaining planning permission.
The overarching issue is if a subsea cable will be built between Lewis and the mainland -
If successful, profits would be shared out amongst the community consortium with a view to also allocating a certain percentage of the funds for other local groups who were unable to join initially.
Possibly, £91 million could be reinvested into community projects over the 20 plus years lifetime of the project.
If no profits are taken within the first ten years -
One option is to extend the term of the loan so money could be distributed to the community in the early years.
The idea for the consortium emerged because a number of community groups faced ditching their own turbine plans because of massive unaffordable costs to link into the grid.
By working together and building a joint wind scheme close to the substation they gain major savings.
Green Cat Renewables carried out a feasibility study, highlighting a layout of seven turbines -
Funding for the studies carried out to date has come from the Scottish Government, Western Isles Development Trust and Comhairle nan Eilean Siar.
CES hailed the “ground breaking solution to enable community energy to proceed through economies of scale” which would result in “significant income coming in to the local economy.”
Iain Maciver, factor of the Stornoway Trust, said: “Representatives from various community groups, under the auspices of CES, seeking to build their own wind farms approached the trust last year in an attempt to overcome the high connection charges which they were quoted and were not able to afford.
“A situation they hoped could be addressed if they formed a consortium to develop a site on Arnish Moor thereby benefiting from the savings they hoped to achieve by building close to the proposed connector station site, previously identified for the still to be consented subsea link from the mainland.
“In consenting to and agreeing to take a stake in the proposal the trust specified that, should the development succeed, account would have to be taken of the needs of other communities within the trust area who, of themselves, could not progress their own schemes.
“While work on the proposal is at an early stage and its ultimate success resting on the required converter station being built, those involved in the steering group currently managing the feasibility elements of the work are very encouraged by the findings which the field studies have revealed to date.”
Stornoway
Plans for £37 million community owned windfarm
25 February 2020
Community windfarm
Existing
turbines
