OREANDA-NEWS. July 23, 2012. SSE Renewables, the renewable energy development division of SSE, has submitted its proposal to the Scottish Government for a 26 turbine wind farm at Glencassley, north-west of Lairg, in Sutherland.

The proposed site is located approximately 6km north of Rosehall, between the River Cassley and Loch Shin, and sits within the Creich Community Council area.

Detailed surveys and assessments have been undertaken over the last two years as part of an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) to help assess the suitability of the site for a wind farm, and the scheme has been carefully designed in order to minimise visibility in the surrounding area. The turbine height has been reduced from 135m to 126.5m and the turbine numbers have almost halved from the original 47 turbine design.

If consented, the scheme would have an installed capacity of up to 78MW and take around 18 months to build. Access would be gained through SSE’s existing Achany wind farm, reducing the impact of construction traffic on the local area. The development will bring significant job opportunities to the area during the construction period as well as some further opportunities during the long-term operation of the wind farm.

In addition, up to ?9.75 million* would be provided over 25 years for community projects, including skills and training initiatives, through SSE’s industry leading community investment programme.

SSE’s Director of Onshore Renewables, David Gardner, said: “We believe that Glencassley is a well-sited project and that the refined design, following consultation with stakeholders, has significantly improved the proposal. This has also been reflected in some of the feedback we received from the community at the recent round of exhibitions, particularly from a visual perspective, and we are grateful to them for taking the time to engage and provide us with their comments.”

“If consented, SSE is determined to ensure that it delivers significant benefits locally, both through the job opportunities that will be generated, as well as through our apprenticeship scheme and industry-leading community investment programme.”

“One of the key areas that we have been looking at in response to community feedback at the exhibitions is raising awareness of and maximising the economic opportunities for local businesses and service providers, and job creation associated with our projects. The community often knows that these opportunities exist, but don’t know how best to approach us. So we have recently launched a new Highland business portal** which provides local businesses with details of opportunities in their area and encourages them to register with us. In addition, we are also looking at ways to help raise better awareness of SSE’s apprenticeship scheme*** and other initiatives which may be of interest to the community.”

The submission follows a period of public consultation which was initiated in September 2011 with public exhibitions in Lairg and Rosehall. Comments from the exhibitions have been fed into the design process and have helped towards its development. A further round of public exhibitions was held in May 2012 to present the final design, prior to submission.