Scottish & Southern Energy plc (SSE) has been given planning permission to develop a 40MW (megawatt) wind farm at Achany in Sutherland.

The decision to construct the controversial 23-turbine wind farm was granted following a public inquiry into the development, which was concluded in August 2007.

The original planning application had been made in October 2005 but the Highland Council had originally opposed the plans. However, they reversed their decision as the inquiry concluded.

The wind farm will have 23 turbines and construction work is expected to begin next year, with the wind farm scheduled to be commissioned in 2010. Its development will require the investment of around £55 million.

-- Advertisement --

When Achany is commissioned, SSE will have 275MW of installed wind farm capacity. This includes the Drumberg and Toddleburn wind farms, which are expected to be commissioned in 2008 and 2009 respectively. In addition to Achany, the company is seeking to secure consent for seven other wind farms, with a total capacity of over 650MW, which are at various stages in the formal planning process.

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 UK's renewable energy requirements," he said.

Those opposed to the wind farm have campaigned against its construction on the basis it would have an adverse impact on the tourism in Sutherland.

The UK Government also recently unveiled plans to expand offshore wind power generation, with hopes to build a generating capacity of around 33 gigawatts of energy by 2020.

(JM)