THE go-ahead has been given for a wind farm in the south-west that could support up to 250 construction jobs.
The Kilgallioch project, spread over Dumfries and Galloway and South Ayrshire boundaries, is expected to have 96 turbines, fewer than originally planned. Developer Scottish Power Renewables is to contribute to a cash pot supporting local environmental and energy-related projects and will fund the employment of two Countryside Rangers to manage the Southern Upland Way over the 25 years the wind farm is in operation.
Energy minister Fergus Ewing said: “In consenting the application, I have put a number of conditions in place to protect the local wildlife and environment and recognise that measures have been taken to mitigate the impact of the development.”
Scottish Power Renewables applied for consent for the scheme in March 2010. The original application proposed 132 turbines, subsequently reduced to 96 with a generating capacity of up to 288MW.
Seventy eight energy applications have now been determined since May 2007, all but six of which have been given the green light. There have been 55 consents for renewable developments, 31 onshore wind, one offshore wind, 19 hydro, four wave and tidal and 17 non-renewable. The six rejected were all onshore wind farms.
The Energy Consents and Deployment Unit is currently considering a further 46 applications. The Scottish Government’s Energy Consents and Deployment Unit is currently considering applications for 43 renewables developments, 38 of which are onshore wind. The remainder is made up of two hydro and three biomass.
