Councillors in Orkney have given their unanimous backing to one of three on-shore windfarms the local authority has proposed.
The full roster of Orkney’s 21 councillors met behind closed doors this week.
Their job was to focus on proposed windfarms for Quanterness and Hoy.
Backing for the six-turbine windfarm at the £50m Quanterness site, west of Kirkwall, was given.
However, the proposals for a similar development at Wee Fea on the island of Hoy have been “paused”.
When asked if she thought on-shore windfarms would ruin the Orkney landscape, council leader Heather Woodbridge quoted the film Local Hero.
Admitting it was a “huge decision”, she said: “You can’t eat the scenery.”
But how does a council decide on its own windfarms? And what does everyone think about the proposals?
Orkney council windfarms: what happened in the meeting?
A “reappraisal” of the Hoy project is to be carried out, in light of the current grid connection costs attached to the project, the council says.
A decision on a third windfarm on the tiny island of Faray will go to councillors in 2027.
The proposals for the Quanterness and Hoy sites consist of six turbines each, with each farm designed to generate up to 28.8MW.
The turbines would be 149.9m in height from the ground to blade tip.
The council has been developing proposals for council-owned windfarms since 2016.
What are the windfarms worth?
The council wants to build the windfarms to generate cash to protect services and reach carbon-neutral goals. They’re also trying to help the case for a 220MW interconnector cable between Orkney and the Scottish Mainland.
It has been estimated that the two windfarms, plus a third on the island of Faray, could boost the council’s coffers by £5.5million per year.
The council says the project at Quanterness will generate a clear profit of £3.3m per year over the 25-year lifespan of the project. That’s an expected £120m over the full term.
Construction of the Quanterness project is expected to start in 2027 with generation getting underway in 2028.
Hoy windfarm ‘paused’
The costs for the Hoy project – although identical in size to Quanterness – were expected to reach £77m.
There are additional grid connection costs.
Whilst Orkney’s council would have still expected the Hoy project to turn a net profit, it felt that the financial risk was too high.
‘Huge decision’ for Orkney
The actual decision on whether to grant planning permission is now passed on to Scottish Ministers.
The turbines are not popular with everyone.
Following this week’s decision, council leader Heather Woodbridge was asked if Orkney’s landscape was being sacrificed for the financial benefits of the windfarm.
She said: “We have to consider, on balance, what is best for Orkney as a whole.
“We must ensure our vital public services are funded and that we’re able to sustain them into the future – not just for us but for future generations as well.
“You can’t eat scenery.”
The leader said “the door remains open for future consideration” regarding Hoy.
The decisions made at this week’s meeting still have to be ratified by the full council in two weeks.
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