Balblair Wind Farm
Vestas Development A/S is exploring an opportunity to develop a wind farm on the Balblair Estate, 2 km north-west of Bonar Bridge with its development partner Force 9 Energy
Current Status
Vestas and Force 9 Energy have submitted an application to the Scottish Government for the proposed Balblair Wind Farm, approximately 2km north-west of Bonar Bridge following two public exhibitions held in March and September 2024.
If approved, the project will:
- Generate enough renewable electricity to power approximately 34,000 homes per year.
- Include up to eight wind turbines, six of which would be up to 180m to blade tip and two up to 200m to blade tip, along with an energy storage system, with a total capacity in excess of 50MW.
- Provide a community benefit fund equating to an anticipated £180,000 annually or £5.4 million over the project’s 30-year operational life.
- Support local employment and economic growth through supply chain opportunities and Vestas’ service base in Inverness.
- Deliver biodiversity net gain
The application is accompanied by a comprehensive Environmental Impact Assessment Report (EIAR), illustrating how the project has been designed to reduce environmental effects in the area.
Public Consultation
The Balblair Wind Farm application has now been accepted by the Scottish Government’s Energy Consents Unit and assigned the reference number: ECU00005055.
Members of the public can now review the submitted documents and make representations on the application via the Energy Consents Unit Planning Portal.
The EIAR for Balblair can be viewed at Bonar Bridge Library throughout the consultation period. It is also accessible for download on both the project website (https://balblairwindfarm.co.uk/) and Force 9’s website (https://www.force9energy.com/projects/current/balblair).
The Site
The proposed site is located within the Balblair Estate, approximately 2 km north-west of Bonar Bridge, and is characterised under Nature Scot’s nationwide landscape assessment as Landscape Character Type 135; Rounded Hills- Caithness & Sutherland.
The predominant land use within the site is rough grazing.
About Vestas
Vestas is a global leader in sustainable energy solutions. Vestas designs, manufactures, installs and services wind turbines around the world and has delivered more than 177 GW of wind power capacity in 88 countries, which is estimated to have avoided 2.13 billion tonnes of CO2 emissions. Since 2001, Vestas has been active in the United Kingdom and employs around 1,600 staff spanning technology, manufacturing, operations and maintenance, and support functions.
Vestas is funding the development and design of this wind farm project and is committed to supplying the wind turbines, managing project construction and providing long-term operation and maintenance services for the plant.
About Force 9 Energy
Force 9 is an independent, UK based wind farm developer, with a focus on developing sensitively designed onshore wind farms. UK wind farms in operation, or consented by the Force 9 team, have the potential to contribute more than 500 MW of clean, renewable generating capacity in the UK. Scotland has abundant natural resources and is ideally placed to be at the forefront of generating clean, renewable energy. Force 9 always takes careful account of the landscape, environments and communities where our developments may be sited, and is committed to ensuring that sympathetic and sustainable design principles are incorporated into our projects.
You can find out more about Force 9 Energy by visiting our website here.
Project Benefits
Community Benefit
Force 9’s development partner, Vestas, is committed to paying Community Benefit at the Scottish Government recommended rate: currently at a value equivalent to £5,000 per Mega Watt of installed capacity, for every year of operation (anticipated to be 30 years) to help fund community projects. For illustrative purposes, if a 36 MW wind farm is constructed, this would be worth £180k per year (index linked) for local communities, for each year of operation – a total of up to £5.4 million over the project’s lifetime.
Opportunities for Local Businesses
Vestas and Force 9 Energy are committed to giving local businesses every possible opportunity to share in the financial and employment benefits of the construction and operation of Balblair wind farm. If constructed, Balblair will offer opportunities for local businesses such as accommodation providers, hire companies, fencing contractors, tradespeople and machinery plant owners.
If you represent a local business, please contact us and we will register your interest and keep you informed about valuable opportunities for local businesses connected with the wind farm.
Key Facts
Up to eight turbines with an energy storage facility, the combined capacity of which will be in excess of 50 MW
Enough renewable electricity to power approximately 34,000* homes per year
Up to 30 MW battery storage included on site
Up to £180,000 Community Benefit Fund per annum depending on the installed capacity of the wind farm on site
Biodiversity net gain designed In
*Please note that this figure is based on eight turbines with an installed capacity of 36MW operating at UK average capacity factor of 35.6% capacity and assuming 3,239 is the average UK household electricity consumption in kW hours (based on most recent statistics from the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, Jan 2024 (DESNZ)).
Timeline
February 2024
Submission of Scoping Request to ECU
March 2024
First Public Consultation
September 2024
Second public consultation
Late 2024
Target submission
2027 (dependent on grid connection date)
Anticipated construction start date
2029
Anticipated start of operations
Have your say
Following the application for consent, members of the public can now submit comments directly to the Scottish Government.
To share feedback, visit the Energy Consents Unit Portal and search for reference number ECU00005055.
Contact
You can contact us via phone: 0141 674 8680 or email: info@balblairwindfarm.co.uk