Peel Wind Farms (No1) Ltd has submitted the Environmental Statement and accompanying reporting to Shetland Island Council forming its application to install and operate a wind farm between Lerwick and Scalloway on Shetland Mainland. The proposal is for 12 wind turbines with an overall generating capacity of up to 50MW.
TNEI coordinated the EIA and scheme design processes and provided a range of specialist inputs including assessments of:
“¢ Construction and operational noise;
“¢ Peat and carbon soils;
“¢ Carbon balance;
“¢ Socio-economics and tourism impacts;
“¢ Shadow flicker;
“¢ Hydrology and ground conditions; and
“¢ In-combination effects.
The project enabled us to bring to bear over 60 years of combined specialist wind energy experience across our EIA, acoustics and civil engineering teams.
A careful iterative design process saw the scheme evolve from the initial 21 turbine proposal, that was the basis for the EIA Scoping process, to the submitted 12 turbine layout. This final design has successfully reduced the likely effects on the local communities, sensitive bird species within and across the site and on the Shetland landscape, including the South West Mainland National Scenic Area.
The scale of development and Shetland’s excellent wind resource mean that the wind farm is likely to save up to 118,507 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (tCO2e) over an anticipated 25 year lifespan. Renewable energy generation is set to play a vital role in securing the energy supply on Shetland and in bringing valuable economic benefits. The construction process would result in both direct and indirect job creation and increased economic activity that would boost the local economy and a smaller number of long term jobs would be created to service and maintain the wind farm.
Photomontage of the proposed Mossy Hill Wind Farm beyond Lerwick from the Horse of the Knab.
The Environmental Statement and supporting documents are available via the Shetland Island Council website under Planning Application Reference Number 2018/186/PPF and further project details and updates are also available via the Peel Energy project website.
Steve Snowdon, Development Manager remarked, “Peel has worked with TNEI on a number of our wind energy and solar projects. We rely on their expertise and experience to help us develop and deliver our infrastructure projects.”
For further information about our involvement in the project or on any of our specialist wind energy capabilities please email Jason McGrayor call07796 015638.
