There was fresh disruption on a northern roads at the weekend as wind farm bosses return massive -and incorrectly sized – turbine parts to Inverness.
Motorists using the A96 Aberdeen to Inverness road experienced weeks of delays as components of the Moray Dorenell Wind Farm were delivered.
But at the start of June it emerged that six huge parts would have to be sent back as they will not connect into the ground.
Engineers discovered the huge base parts could not be attached to the foundations that had already been set into the ground.
Yesterday a convoy left the Dorenell site at 8am, passing Keith, Forres and Nairn before eventually making its way to Inverness by 1.15pm.
This was the first of “two or three” convoys according to a spokeswoman for EDF energy.
The controversial wind farm development, run by EDF energy, attracted 640 objections when it was first proposed.
Pit stop just before Huntly. #roadpolicing #wideload #ABZTravel pic.twitter.com/fejJxDzsrs
— NE Roads Updates (@PolScotRoadsNE) May 29, 2018
It also survived two court bids from drink giants William Grant and Sons, who own Dufftown-based Glenfiddich, who had been desperate to see it blocked.
Work began on upgrading the roads in the rural Cabrach region nearly two years ago in order to accommodate the convoy shipments.
EDF Renewables said last night that the issue had been discovered by turbine manufacturers Vestas and that a solution had been developed to stop the situation happening again.
A spokeswoman said: “Vestas has discovered an issue with the tower bases as part of the works at Dorenell Windfarm being developed by EDF Renewables and has already found a solution.
“Only six affected parts are at the Dorenell site already and will need to be returned from site to Inverness port in two to three convoys.”
The spokesman said that the disruption to traffic caused by the additional journeys was likely to be minor, in the context of the wider project.
The heavy load being escorted by road policing officers is now at #Keith. Here are some pics from the start of the journey. pic.twitter.com/i6IbRk6pTL
— NE Roads Updates (@PolScotRoadsNE) May 29, 2018
The rest of the deliveries to the Dorenell site will continue as planned.
The spokesman added: “Vestas takes full responsibility for the issue and is in close contact with EDF Renewables, working as quickly as possible to keep any disruption to a minimum.”
Information on delivery times and dates can be had by emailing info@dorenellwindfarm.co.uk.