Plans for a 39-turbine windfarm on the Isle of Lewis could get the full go-ahead in spring 2014.
The proposed Beinn Mhor windfarm on the Eisgein Estate was yesterday the only Scottish scheme to be included in a Department of Energy and Climate Change list of ten “provisionally affordable” renewables schemes.
If approved, the scheme could be among the first to secure subsidy support under the new Contracts for Difference (CfD), developed as part of the UK Government’s electricity market reform.
Plans for the scheme, located in the South Lochs area of the island, were originally developed by wealthy estate owner Nicholas Oppenheim. The rights to the scheme were then purchased by International Power, which was acquired by French energy giant GDF Suez in June last year.
Mr Oppenheim, a London-based financier, has since proposed an extension to the windfarm, sparking concern from Scottish Natural Heritage and RSPB Scotland that more turbines on the estate could endanger golden and sea eagles.
Large-scale UK renewables projects are currently supported under the Renewables Obligation scheme. However, CfDs will replace this, offering developers long-term contracts for their green schemes.
The contract pays developers the difference between the reference price – an index which estimates the market price for electricity – and a fixed price per megawatt hour of electrical output, known as the ‘strike price’.
Strike prices were recently confirmed by the government with offshore wind schemes set to receive more money than those onshore.
In addition, schemes on Scottish islands will receive more than those on the mainland.
Two other Scottish wind schemes could also still be in the running for funding under the first round of CfD allocations next year.
The Inch Cape Offshore windfarm, near Angus, and the Neart na Gaoithe Offshore windfarm, which lies 15km off the Fife coast, made DECC’s original list of potential schemes earlier this month.
Although not deemed ‘provisionally affordable’ at this stage, a DECC spokesman yesterday said the developers of the schemes still had time to adjust their plans and they could potentially be given the green light in spring 2014.
A GDF spokeswoman said the company was “pleased” to have met the conditions of the government’s funding scheme, adding: “There are still a number of important issues around the Beinn Mhor wind farm, including the Western Isles transmission link, to be resolved before a decision is made.”
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