Renewable Energy Installer December/January 2014 | Page 27

Knowledge: Wind
Enemy within
Glasgow-based UrbanWind has called for a major overhaul of Scotland’s planning
system in a bid to increase the number of new wind projects and ensure the
government’s green targets are met
he company warns that long delays in the planning
process are blocking vital investment in renewable
technology – which has the potential to help create 40,000
jobs in Scotland – as fi rms are deterred by the lengthy
planning process that exists in the country at present.
UrbanWind issued its warning following the publication of an
Audit Scotland report looking at how the country is progressing in
meeting ambitious government targets to source 30 percent of its total
energy consumption from renewables by 2020.
Paul McCullagh, chief executive of UrbanWind, says: “Looking
specifi cally at the small and medium wind energy sector, there is
undoubtedly strong investor support and a defi nite appetite from
companies, like UrbanWind, to make a signifi cant contribution towards
achieving these targets.
“However, the two biggest obstacles we currently face are
unrelated to the economy, or UK energy policy, as suggested by Audit
Scotland. They are, in fact, the legislative process involved in gaining
planning approvals and securing an economic connection to the
national grid.
“There is a willingness on the part of the various distribution
network operators to engage with developers to try to achieve
economic grid connections.
“We are content that, with some additional investment from the
Scottish government, current issues around grid connections could be
alleviated to help achieve the scale of sites required for deployment to
meet the Scottish government’s targets.”
T
Double trouble: Cumbersome
planning processes and a
lack of economically viable
grid connections risks
jeopardising Scotland’s
ambitious renewable energy
targets, says UrbanWind chief
executive Paul McCullagh
McCullough highlights a fear that turbine manufacturers and
developers may decide to forego the Scottish and UK market if efforts
are not made to speed up planning decisions. According to UrbanWind,
with some cases taking over eight months to determine, Scotland and
the UK signifi cantly lag behind other nations in the length of timescale
for deploying wind.
“Currently we are seeing planning decisions taking no less than
eight months to determine and in some cases extending out to over a
year,” he adds.
Onshore wind is a key part of the solution
to the problem of meeting the UK’s legally-
binding EU emissions targets and Scottish
government aspirations
“If the Scottish government is to have any hope of achieving
the targets then this situation has to be addressed, whether through
additional resource to planning departments or a complete overhaul of
the planning process, to allow determination of turbine applications to
be made within the statutory time limits, which are certainly not being
met currently.
“On a similar vein, we are hearing signifi cant concerns from
turbine manufacturers as to where we sit globally in the legislative
process for planning and the signifi cantly longer timescales for
deployment in the UK as compared to other countries. This is
something that they are not experiencing in other markets, where wind
energy is growing strongly.”
According to McCullagh, a change in attitude and policy is
needed to see more wind turbine approvals with special dispensation
given to renewable energy. Despite concerns about the visual impact
of turbines, priority should be given to their impact on fi ghting climate
changes and ability to quickly fi ll the looming electricity generation
gap.
“Everyone should understand that regardless of how we produce
energy, we need to ensure that, with the decommissioning of
traditional fossil fuel-fi red power stations, the lights do not go out.
“Nimbyism, I’m afraid, won’t cut it. We understand that there is
concern over onshore wind energy from some quarters. However, it
should be pointed out that onshore wind is a key part of the solution to
the problem of meeting the legally-binding EU emissions targets and
Scottish government aspirations – as well as keeping the lights on.”
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