The Project
The Stornoway Wind Farm is designed to harness the excellent wind resource on the Isle of Lewis.
Working in partnership with The Stornoway Trust, which has been considering community-influenced renewable energy projects for a number of years, we believe that our project has taken the right steps to deliver a publicly acceptable, income-generating scheme to the Isle of Lewis.
We value your local knowledge and want to understand what is important to you, so please talk with us and tell us your views. David Morrison is our local Community Consultation Coordinator and you can find his details below or on the Contacts page.
We are looking to balance renewable energy production with environmental impact, ensuring that the needs of the stakeholders and other interested parties within the local community will be accommodated.
The Stornoway Wind Farm is a 36 turbine development with a generating capacity of up to 129.6MW. The wind farm layout can be found under the Project Information page.
The Section 36 Planning Application and Environmental Statement were submitted to the Scottish Government on 30 June 2011. An Addendum to the Environmental Statement was submitted on 27 January 2012.
Consent was granted by the Scottish Government on 7 September 2012.
Further information and responses to frequently asked questions are provided below.
1. When is construction expected to begin?
Construction will begin following the finalisation of all financial agreements and contracts.
2. What needs to be done before construction can start?
There is a lot of work still to be done before construction can start. This includes discharging the numerous planning conditions, undertaking additional environmental surveys, selecting the turbine manufacturer, ensuring the wind farm can connect to the national grid, continued engagement with consultees, and finalising financial agreements.
3. Why was the number of turbines reduced to 36?
LWP has been in extensive negotiations with Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) and RSPB regarding concerns over the golden eagles and red throated divers on the adjacent European protected site, and has agreed to remove the turbines which caused SNH and RSPB the greatest concern.
4. How many jobs will the wind farm create?
It is assumed that approximately 196 jobs will be created in the Western Isles and a further 181 jobs throughout Scotland in civil engineering, construction and manufacturing of the towers. Overall 790 jobs will be created across Scotland (direct, indirect and induced) with 247 of these jobs based in the Western Isles during the construction and operation phase.
5. Where will the turbines be manufactured?
A turbine manufacturer still needs to be selected for our wind farm. This commercial decision will consider the socio-economic benefits for the Western Isles - for example, whether the towers can be manufactured in the Western Isles.
6. How does the community benefit financially from the project?
A Community Trust will be set up and will receive approximately £4,000 per installed megawatt each year. This equates to about £520,000 per year for a 130MW scheme.
7. How much carbon will the wind farm save in a year?
The wind farm could save about 250,000 tonnes of CO2 every year.
8. How many homes will the wind farm power?
The 36 wind turbines have the potential to power approximately 90,000 homes.
9. What effect will this wind farm have on protected species such as golden eagles and red throated divers?
We have worked closely with SNH and RSPB to ensure that the adjacent SPA and a number of protected bird species (including golden eagles and red throated divers) are not going to be adversely affected by the wind farm. We will continue to work closely with these consultees to ensure that during the construction and operation of the wind farm any adverse effects on these species are avoided.
10. Who will be responsible for decommissioning the wind farm?
LWP will be responsible for the decommissioning. It forms part of our agreement with the Scottish Government.
11. Where can we find further information on the environmental effects of the wind farm?
As part of our Section 36 Planning Application to the Scottish Government, we produced a Non Technical Summary which outlines the findings of the Environmental Statement. Both an English and Gaelic version of the Non Technical Summary are available for download below.