LOCATION/TYPE

NEWS HOME

[ exact phrase in "" • results by date ]

[ Google-powered • results by relevance ]


Archive
RSS

Add NWW headlines to your site (click here)

Get weekly updates

WHAT TO DO
when your community is targeted

RSS

RSS feeds and more

Keep Wind Watch online and independent!

Donate via Paypal

Donate via Stripe

Selected Documents

All Documents

Research Links

Alerts

Press Releases

FAQs

Campaign Material

Photos & Graphics

Videos

Allied Groups

News Watch Home

Neart na Gaoithe wind farm failure brings scrutiny on subsidy schemes 

Credit:  May 12, 2016 | www.theweek.co.uk ~~

Questions are being raised over the complex management of renewable energy subsidy schemes, after a major offshore wind farm off the coast of Fife was effectively scuppered.

The 64-turbine Neart na Gaoithe project, which, the Daily Telegraph notes, was one of only two offshore developments to win a government subsidy contract last year, has been thrown into jeopardy after its contract was terminated by the arms-length body that manages them on behalf of the UK government.

The Low Carbon Contracts Company (LCCC) pulled the subsidies after a 26 March deadline to invest £200m into the £2bn development was missed.

This in turn occurred because a judge delayed a verdict on a judicial review launched by the RSPB challenging the plans over an apparent threat to the gannets at the nearby Bass Rock colony, the largest in the world.

It means a project that received planning approval from the Scottish government has been undermined by the decision of a body that reports into the Department of Energy and Climate Change in Westminster.

In parliament this week, Andrea Leadsom, the energy minister, said the decision was one for the independent LCCC and not the UK government.

Ironically, RSPB Scotland itself told the Financial Times that the issue highlighted that there could be “better join up” between the “Edinburgh government’s planning process and the management of wind farm financing by LCCC and the UK government”.

Global wind and solar developer Mainstream Renewable Power, the company behind Neart na Gaoithe, said the project is still ready to start and the financial backer remain committed, adding that it “strongly disputes the validity of the termination notice”.

The company remains in arbitration with LCCC but unless the decision is fully reversed, the subsidies will no longer be available and the project will be effectively killed off, even if the judge rules in its favour.

The Telegraph says the decision could help the government by freeing up “some cash in the government’s budget for renewable energy subsidies, which had been overspent”. But the FT says it could also undermine “efforts to meet UK and Scottish carbon emissions targets”.

Wind power has become a major part of Scotland’s renewable energy landscape. The Scotsman reports that turbines provided enough electricity to power 75 per cent of homes north of the border in April, well ahead of a target of 50 per cent.

Source:  May 12, 2016 | www.theweek.co.uk

This article is the work of the source indicated. Any opinions expressed in it are not necessarily those of National Wind Watch.

The copyright of this article resides with the author or publisher indicated. As part of its noncommercial educational effort to present the environmental, social, scientific, and economic issues of large-scale wind power development to a global audience seeking such information, National Wind Watch endeavors to observe “fair use” as provided for in section 107 of U.S. Copyright Law and similar “fair dealing” provisions of the copyright laws of other nations. Send requests to excerpt, general inquiries, and comments via e-mail.

Wind Watch relies entirely
on User Funding
   Donate via Paypal
(via Paypal)
Donate via Stripe
(via Stripe)

Share:

e-mail X FB LI TG TG Share


News Watch Home

Get the Facts
CONTACT DONATE PRIVACY ABOUT SEARCH
© National Wind Watch, Inc.
Use of copyrighted material adheres to Fair Use.
"Wind Watch" is a registered trademark.

 Follow:

Wind Watch on X Wind Watch on Facebook

Wind Watch on Linked In Wind Watch on Mastodon