Plans for a five-turbine wind generation plant brought by renewable energy company RES have been refused by the Highland Council for the second time.
Proposals for the development have been refused under delegate powers, and RES has expressed disappointment that the project will not be taken to the local planning committee.
The Cairnmore Hill wind power plant would be sited in an area identified by the Highland Council as having ‘potential for wind farm development’ and within an area that the Caithness and Sutherland Local Development Plan seeks to promote as an internationally renowned centre for renewable energy.
RES has been working on the development for nearly a decade, having first developed and proposed a 10-turbine scheme, which was then reduced to eight turbines. In 2016 and 2019 the project received positive feedback at public exhibition events held in the nearby towns of Forss and Thursso, but the scheme was refused in 2021.
In August 2022, RES submitted a scoping report to the Highland Council for a more compact scheme with only five turbines, which it said would deliver around £1.4 million of inward investment to the local area and £8.75 million in business rates to the council.
However, this year the council has once again refused the scheme. According to the decision document on the Highland Council planning portal, the proposed development would have a “non-localised, significantly detrimental effect on landscape qualities, which are not clearly outweighed by social, environmental, or economic benefits”.
It also cites “detrimental visual effects” for nearby residential properties.
Euan Hogg, RES development project manager, countered: “We carefully considered the council’s feedback on our previous 8-turbine proposal and significantly reduced the scheme in response to this, so we’re naturally disappointed by the refusal – particularly given the importance of projects like Cairnmore Hill amidst the climate change emergency we are facing.”
RES also highlighted a comment from a resident ‘living closest’ to the proposed site, James Mackay, who said the refusal “doesn’t make any sense”.
Could zonal pricing improve local renewables support?
While Hogg mentioned over 200 supporting letters sent to the council, the planning portal shows that of 866 public comments received, 639 were in objection to the proposal.
Notably, one of the objections states: “Caithness exports far more energy than it would ever require, so the rest of the UK benefits from the energy produced in Caithness and yet Caithness pays the highest standard daily charge rate in the UK and as a whole receives no benefit.”
This suggests that the cost reduction offered by zonal pricing, one of the options being debated as part of the review of electricity market arrangements (REMA), might serve to encourage local support of renewable energy developments.
Commenting on research commissioned by utility Octopus Energy showing that Scottish businesses favour zonal pricing, Octopus CEO and founder Greg Jackson said: “Under our current system hard-up Scottish households and businesses are exposed to some of the highest energy prices in Europe, while wind farm owners are paid nearly £2 billion annually to turn off cheap green energy in Scotland that could be helping out local consumers.
“Under zonal pricing, the whole country would save £55bn on bills, prices in Scotland would be amongst the cheapest in Europe and Scottish businesses would thrive.”
