Energy futureSSE to develop wind farm in Sutherland, Scotland
The £55 million wind farm will have twenty-three turbines; when Achany is commissioned, SSE will have 275MW of installed wind farm capacity
Scottish and Southern Energy (SSE) has been granted planning permission to develop its seventh wind farm, a 40MW facility at Achany in Sutherland, Scotland. The £55 million wind farm will have twenty-three turbines and construction work is expected to begin next year, with the wind farm scheduled to be commissioned in 2010. When Achany is commissioned, SSE will have 275MW of installed wind farm capacity. This includes the Drumderg and Toddleburn wind farms, which are expected to be commissioned in 2008 and 2009 respectively. In addition to Achany, SSE is currently seeking consent for seven other wind farms, with a total capacity of over 650MW.
Ian Marchant, chief executive of SSE, said: “I am pleased that the Achany wind farm has finally received consent, and we will work to ensure that the construction work at the site is carried out efficiently and professionally. We will seek to work in partnership with the local community throughout the construction period. In the last 15 months, we have had three successes in the wind farm planning process. Nevertheless, it remains much too time-consuming and unpredictable to be an effective means of realising Scotland’s and the U.K.’s renewable energy requirements.”
