Planning consent for Drumduff wind farm extension will triple its generation capacity

News

07 May 2024

The extension will boost the overall capacity of the Scottish wind project to over 21MW.

Article written by alex.lomax

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We are excited to announce that our partners GreenPower, with the backing of Thrive, have secured planning consent to extend the three turbine wind farm that we co-own and operate, situated on the site of an old open cast coal mine.

The extension will add three turbines with an expected generation capacity of 12-15MW, bringing the overall Drumduff Wind Farm to 6 turbines and the combined onsite generation capacity to over 21MW.

Located primarily in a commercial Sitka Spruce forest, the project plan includes substantial ‘forest to bog’ restoration of peatland bringing substantial ecological and biodiversity gains. The project will also be providing £5,000 per MW of installed generation capacity to the local community.

“This extension will help to meet the UK’s increasing demand for clean energy to power homes, businesses and transport, and serve as a step towards achieving both the West Lothian Council climate objectives and Scottish Government onshore wind deployment targets. We look forward to working with local communities and businesses to ensure they continue benefiting from the project.”

Matthew Clayton, Managing Director, Thrive Renewables

Drumdduff is located next to Blawhorn Moss National Nature Reserve, an area of peatland, home to a rich and diverse ecosystem that’s crucial for tackling biodiversity loss. We’ve worked with NatureScot to extend the boardwalk at the nature reserve so that local residents can enjoy this area of natural beauty.

“Local community feedback has helped us finalise the design to avoid native woodland areas and maximise biodiversity benefits from the project. I would like to thank all of the local community and the community council who engaged with us constructively on the project as the plans evolved. We look forward to working with them to maximise the benefits of the project to the community.”

Sam Layton, Lead Development Manager, GreenPower