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Wind energy projects being explored (press release 21/01/10)
Potential of the national forest estate for wind and hydro power
Forestry Commission Scotland (FCS) is working to develop the potential of the National Forest Estate for wind and hydro power. The estate covers nearly 10% of Scotland.
Wind and hydro power provide clean and renewable sources of electricity which help reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
The Scottish Government has a target of generating 50% of electricity in Scotland from renewable sources by 2020. It will take time for newer technologies, such as offshore wind and tidal power, to come on stream. Over the next few years, onshore wind farms will deliver the majority of new capacity in renewable electricity generation. There is also some scope for further hydro power, especially with small, run-of-river schemes.
The Climate Change (Scotland) Bill (see http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/s3/bills/17-ClimateChange/index.htm) aims to allow FCS to enter into joint ventures with developers and local communities to accelerate renewable energy developments on the national forest estate.
Wind power
On the National Forest Estate, the generating capacity of operational or under contruction wind power developments is currently about 0.4 gigawatts (GW). Planning consent has been given for another 0.5GW, with a further 0.2GW under planning consideration.
In the long run, the total onshore wind potential of the National Forest Estate may run to several gigawatts, however, in the nearer future, technical constraints mean that we anticipate having about 2.0GW of capacity installed by 2020.
- See details of development opportunities for wind power.
Partnerships for Renewables (PfR)
In the Scottish Borders and the central belt, we are working with Partnerships for Renewables, to develop wind power projects on the National Forest Estate. You can find details of these projects at: www.pfr.co.uk/forestrycommissionscotland.
Planning and consent for the development of wind farms in Scotland
In Scotland, the development of onshore wind farms began during the 1990s. There is a well-established planning and consents system that is used to consider whether wind farms are acceptable in terms of their visual impact, their impact on communities and habitats, and other factors, such as the impact on aviation radar.
Hydro power
Many of Scotland's large-scale twentieth century hydro power developments have storage lochs that today provide an attractive setting for the national forest estate. Examples include Faskally, Rannoch, Tummel, Garry and Affric.
The main hydro power potential on the national forest estate is now for smaller run-of-river schemes. Installed developments are capable of generating 11.9 MW of power. Schemes with the capacity to generate a further 17MW are either committed or under negotiation. We estimate that there is further potential of at least 50MW.
- See details of: development opportunities for hydro-electric power.
Aims for developing the national forest estate:
Our aim is to ensure that the potential of the national forest estate is developed in ways that:
- contribute to the Scottish Government’s renewable energy target
- maximise financial returns from the national forest estate
- secure benefits for local communities.
More information
For more details please contact the Renewable Energy Business Unit. Email: contactREBU@forestry.gsi.gov.uk.
