Two separate consultations about energy developments in Moray concluded yesterday.
Developer Beatrice Offshore Windfarm Ltd (Bowl), a joint venture by SSE Renewables and Repsol Nuevas Energias UK, is behind a project to instal 277 turbines in the Moray Firth.
It plans to build an electricity substation at the existing substation site at Blackhillock, near Keith, with an underground cable linking the station to Portgordon and servicing the windfarm.
The proposals have been on display at venues at Buckie, Portgordon and Keith this week, to allow the public to have their say.
Bowl communications manager Morven Smith said last night the meetings had mostly been positive.
She said there had been a good turnout on Wednesday at Portgordon, with about 40 people through the doors. It had also been steady at Keith yesterday.
“Generally, the opinions and feeling was positive,” she added. We had some landowners in too, so they are going through negotiations with our land agents at the moment.
“I’d like to thank everyone who took time to come along to the exhibitions.”
Bowl will submit a planning application to Moray Council for the electricity substation in the coming months.
Scottish ministers are expected to make a decision on the offshore windfarm at the start of next year.
Meanwhile, representatives from another energy firm, Estover, were at Craigellachie Hall yesterday to show plans for a biomass plant at Craigellachie Wood.
It also held an exhibition at Archiestown on Wednesday, prompting some mixed views from locals.
The plant would provide electricity for the national grid using low-grade wood and also provide low-carbon energy to the nearby Macallan distillery in the form of steam.
No one from the company was available to comment last night but director Henry Warde said earlier this week the overall feeling had been “positive”.
Some local residents have set up a group called Save our Speyside.
They fear the plant will spoil the remote countryside, disturb wildlife and attract heavy traffic to the area.
The building would be 104ft high and the chimney would be 162ft, rising above the 70ft trees.
Estover Energy hopes to submit a planning application to Moray Council by September this year.