A planning application has been submitted for the proposed 10-turbine Balmeanach Wind Farm on Skye, with neighbour and standard consultation expiry dates set for mid-October.
Submitted by Balmeanach Wind Farm Limited (BWFL) through the agent SLR Consulting, the application to Highland Council seeks permission for the erection and operation of 10 wind turbines with a maximum blade tip height of 149.9m for a period of 40 years.
It also includes access tracks, borrow pits, substation, control building, and ancillary infrastructure, all placed on a 476 hectare site on the north-west of the Inner Hebridean island, 3km south of Edinbane and 8km east of Dunvegan.
The project, which is being run by Spanish renewables company EDP Renovaveis – the controlling group of BWFL – would have a capacity of approximately 45 megawatts.
Neighbour consultation for the application will expire on Saturday October 14, and standard consultation on Sunday October 22. The council has set a determination deadline of December 30.
Whilst the planning application was validated on August 31, and is to be advertised until Friday October 6, a proposal of application notice for the Balmeanach project was sent to community councils in September 2022, and public events held over the following two months.
In October 2022 Highland Council provided a scoping response to outline potential areas of significance.
Should Balmeanach be approved, it will join the 11-turbine Glen Ullinish I, seven-turbine Ben Sca, and two-turbine Ben Sca extension as proposed windfarms granted planning consent on Skye. The four-turbine Ben Mheadhonach project was also approved, but has submitted alteration plans for a five-turbine site.
These projects are amongst a number of windfarm developments being proposed for the island. Both Skye’s existing windfarms, Ben Aketil and Edinbane, are looking into ‘repowering’ by doubling the height of their turbines to 200m, a move that would more than double their capacity.
Meanwhile pre-planning has been completed on both the Waternish and Breakish windfarms, while July saw an application for the extensive Glen Ullinish II project, which is seeking 47 wind turbines at 200m each, with a generating capacity of 310 megawatts.
SSEN has also applied for an upgrade to the existing Skye-Fort Augustus power network infrastructure.
The influx of windfarm applications into Skye has sparked local concerns about the number and aesthetics of so many turbines, unused capacity, environmental damage and private ownership, raised by groups such as Skye Windfarm Information Group (SWIG) and Communities B4 Power Companies.
However, a policy document from the Scottish Government in December 2022 outlined an ambition to deploy 20GW of onshore wind by 2030, more than double its current capacity.
Details and documents relating to the Balmeanach Wind Farm application can be found on the Highland Council’s planning application site, using reference number 23/04194/FUL.