Three plant approvals in Kintyre and County Durham

Three more wind projects have received siting permits from local authorities. The largest is a 15 MW wind farm of 12 turbines at Deucheran Hill on the Scottish island of Kintyre. PowerGen Renewables saw its first application for 24 turbines on Kintyre turned down because of Scottish Natural Heritage's concerns about the impact on the area's golden eagles, especially because of the proximity of ScottishPower's wind farm. PowerGen had more success with its second application for fewer but larger turbines concentrated away from the more sensitive area. The company has also to agree to a program of habitat enhancement for the golden eagles. One further hurdle will be to gain final consent from the Scottish Office. The other successful projects are both in County Durham, northern England. Derwentside District Council has granted consent for two wind clusters of three 750 kW turbines. Borderwind's High Hedleyhope project is about one kilometre from National Wind Power's Tow Law project. The companies are discussing sharing grid connection and a control building to keep down costs and visual impact.