Around £90million is to be raised for the public purse by building windfarms and other green energy projects on the nation’s forest estate in the north and north-east.
Forestry Commission Scotland is intensifying its drive to profit from the renewables boom with a string of developments.
In Highland, Moray and Aberdeenshire, the number of turbines on forest land will shortly increase five-fold with 14 currently in operation and 63 now under construction.
Planning approval is being sought for 40 turbines across the three areas with a number of hydro developments also proposed.
A further 50 turbines are in operation on projects split over private and public woodland. More will come on stream as the organisation, which manages public woodland on behalf of the government, seeks to produce 2GW of power from renewable projects on its estate by 2020.
Should the output target be met by 2020, around £3.7million a year will be raised from developments in the north and north-east.
With windfarms having a life span of between 20 and 25 years, this could raise around £92m for public coffers over the long term. This does not include additional income raised by hydro schemes, which have a longer life span of up to 45 years.
Struan Stevenson MEP, a vocal wind technology sceptic, last night said commercialising the land with green energy projects was unacceptable.
He said: “Forestry Commission Scotland should be looking after and planting trees and they should not be allowing the felling of vast swathes of forestry for this purpose. It is completely wrong and absurd. The financial impetus is for the Forestry Commission to fill its pockets given that the subsidies are so colossal.
“The Forestry Commission just does not want to miss out. This whole thing should be stamped on very firmly.”
An anti-windfarm campaign group also hit out at the plans for more green energy projects in the region’s forests.
Graham Lang, chairman of Scotland Against Spin said: “There are multiple conflicts in this approach.
“Forests are for trees and wild life and for people to enjoy.
“Windfarms are industrial structures. Their construction and operation will require many trees to be felled. They will drive out wildlife.
“They will ruin people’s enjoyment of the forest environment. Windfarms and forests don’t mix.
“When David Cameron wanted to sell off forests in England, there was a national outcry and he was forced to abandon his plans.
“Yet in Scotland there has been no public debate about whether we want to see our forests industrialised or handed over to private wind developers.”
Forestry Commission Scotland has stressed that land will not be “sold off” but handed over on long leases. It claimed the renewables contracts will benefit the taxpayer, with the profits being invested back into forests.
A spokesman said: “We are driving the best deal for the taxpayer and communities and ensuring the national forest estate generates income for Scotland.
“The Scottish Government has ambitious targets to increase the use of renewable energy in the fight against climate change, and help maintain security of electricity supplies across these islands. Developments on the national forest estate can make a strong contribution to this.”
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