AS SCOTLAND pushes to reach its climate targets by investing in renewable energy, pockets of campaign groups where these green projects are being built say they are facing huge impacts on their daily lives.
Despite the myriad advantages of renewables, which The National's Energy Week series has detailed, some communities aren't so welcoming. But why?
More groups across the Highlands and Islands have popped up in recent years, arguing that they've a lack of agency as energy firms build increasing amounts of infrastructure in Scotland's rural areas.
These groups say they are not against renewables, but they claim they have had very little say, if any, on them.
Campaigners say that as Scotland’s production of renewable energy has reached a surplus, the country already generates enough green electricity. They accuse new projects of privately profiteering at the expense of Scots.
One campaigner, Dr Andrew Robinson, told The National that he became aware of the growing amount of wind farms on the Isle of Skye after he received a leaflet through his letter box outlining a proposal to build a cluster of 15 200-metre-high wind turbines, starting less than a mile from his backdoor.
Robinson said he understands the importance of the green transition but believes the way it is being executed needs an overhaul, starting with how the Scottish Government and energy companies interact with the local communities.
“The planning process which starts with the public consultations, as they call it, that the wind farm companies do, where basically they come to a local village hall, they put some exhibition board up and they tell us what it is they're planning to do.
“It's not a consultation because if you look at the feedback that they got from communities, most people say don't build them.”
Robinson began the Skye Wind Farm Information Group after he discovered there are nine wind farms with around 190 turbines proposed for the island, along with other infrastructure like cabling to transport the electricity to the mainland along with power stations.
“We don’t want to see Skye turned into sort of an industrial electricity generating station,” he said.
Scotland’s capacity for electricity generation from renewable sources has increased substantially over the past 10 years and as of 2023 stood at 15.3 GW – a 10% increase compared to 13.9 GW in 2022.
The technologies with the largest capacity growth in 2023 were fixed offshore wind and onshore wind, with the Government saying the two renewable energy sources make up the bulk of projects in the planning pipeline.
According to figures from the Scottish Government from June 2023, there were 334 wind turbine sites across the country with 4273 of them fully operational, and a further 29 sites with 640 turbines being constructed at the time.
Another 96 sites with 1058 turbines were approved and were awaiting the beginning of construction with a further 115 projects with a combined 1555 turbines planning applications submitted.
Meanwhile, according to statistics from the Scottish Government, Scotland’s renewable technologies generated the equivalent of 113% of its overall electricity consumption in 2022.
Robinson believes that if wind farms are to be continued to be built in Scotland they need to be done with greater transparency and communication between developers and local communities.
He claims that when the Highland Council rejects plans, they are called in by the Scottish Government who don’t consider locals’ objections. He feels campaigners are unable to fight their cases due to energy companies having access to more cash.
“We don't have access to anything like those resources, we're all just people who've suddenly had this imposed upon us," he said.
“We're just trying to have our voice heard in that process.”
He also believes that they should be owned by the people in local communities, or by the Scottish Government, instead of private companies, arguing they prioritise profits over combating the climate crisis.
“The ownership is wrong, they're not owned by the Scottish Government, and they're not owned by the communities where they're going to be built.”
He added: “Our argument is that if we're going to build more wind farms, particularly on Skye because we're an island, then we should go down the community ownership model, and they should be smaller and they should actually belong to the local communities.”
There are also concerns from campaigners over the environmental impact the new proposed wind farms will have on the island’s peatland.
Scotland's peat is not only a source of energy for locals, but it also stores approximately 1.7 billion tonnes of carbon and is a hotbed for biodiversity.
However, according to the conservation charity John Muir Trust, just one hectare of peatland can contain 5000 tonnes of carbon that starts to be released back into the atmosphere when wind turbines are built in the area.
The trust found that 218 out of the 456 wind farms that have already been built in Scotland are on peatland, leading to campaigners worrying that the developments are counterproductive to achieving Scotland’s climate targets.
Another island campaigner, Thor Klein, also lives on Skye. He is concerned that the island’s tourism industry will "diminish” if more turbines are built, as he is worried more turbines will ruin the world-renowned natural beauty.
He raised the point that the island is heavily reliant on tourism and that its infrastructure is already at “bursting point”.
Earlier this month more than 200 islanders objected to a proposal to build a large camp for up to 350 workers in Broadford, Skye, while they are working on a new electricity line connecting to the Western Isles.
There was also a second similar proposal in the works by Balfour Beatty along with Muirhall Energy’s proposal to construct a new quay on the eastern shoreline of Loch Caroy, in the north west of Skye to help accommodate the delivery of turbine components on the island.
“Basically, as an island community, you're facing all these corporate lawyers who flattened the Highland Council with proposals of all kinds and shapes and forms, and they don't take into account what makes sense for the place,” Klein said.
He bemoaned the problems the only road to the mainland, the A87, has with the increasing traffic due to tourism and added that lorries carrying huge turbine components are only adding to the difficulties of island life.
But it’s not just the island communities which have faced growing issues as Kathrin Haltiner, from Caithness, has been leading a resistance against a proposed substation facility in Banniskirk.
The infrastructure proposed by SSEN is to help store the electricity produced by wind turbines in the north of Scotland. Haltiner claims the site is the size of a Highland town, with some structures as tall as four storey buildings.
She said the substation will be “right next” to homes and businesses and will be more than just an eye-sore to those living nearby.
“People are upset by the impact it has on their daily life with the construction and with all the rubbish and the noise and the light pollution that comes with it,” she said.
“A lot of people are really quite despondent because we've been fighting this for such a long time, and it just gets worse and worse, and a lot of people have just given up.”
Haltiner claims that the supply and demand is out of proportion.
“The narrative of green energy is so enticing, and I understand why people want wind farms, but what is happening at the moment is anything but green,” she said.
“We destroy nature and the environment for absolutely nothing at the moment.”
Haltiner added: “Putting up more infrastructure in these remote areas is not going to help because there are so many restrictions throughout Scotland and throughout England that this electricity will never reach a consumer.”
This month the construction of the £2.5 billion subsea electricity superhighway between Scotland and England, Eastern Green Link 1, began with the £4.3bn Eastern Green Link 2 renewable energy cabling between the two countries also approved.
The joint venture between SP Energy Networks and National Grid Electricity Transmission aims to transport green electricity for millions of homes using miles of undersea cables to link the south-east of Scotland with the north-east of England.
Haltiner also highlighted the injustice that the Highlands and Islands have the highest levels of fuel poverty in the UK. One in three Highland households struggle to afford to heat their homes, despite having vast amounts of renewable infrastructure in the region.
“Some people here do not eat and heat their houses at the same time as they can’t afford to.
“People sit here and suffer, meanwhile, they have to look at all this infrastructure destroying their landscape.”
A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “Communities are at the heart of our renewable energy ambitions and we are committed to working with partners to ensure the delivery of renewable energy comes with benefits for people in Scotland, including community benefit, community energy and shared ownership opportunities.
“We need bold action to tackle the climate emergency and Scotland has extensive renewable generation capabilities with which to accelerate the just transition to net zero by 2045. We are clear that increasing renewable energy must benefit people across Scotland.
“Potential impacts on communities and nature are important considerations in the decision-making process.”
An SSEN Transmission spokesperson said: “The area containing electricity infrastructure will cover only approximately one-third of the site’s temporary footprint, with the majority of the permanent site featuring landscaping and planting that will provide screening and help reduce its visual impact.
“The Banniskirk Hub is a key component of our proposals for a new 400kV overhead line between Spittal and Beauly, supporting the delivery of high voltage, clean renewable power and helping meet Scotland and the UK’s energy security and clean power ambitions.
“In developing our proposals, we have sought to achieve the best balance from an environmental and technical perspective while taking account of the views of the local community, with whom we have consulted throughout the development of the project proposal.
“Discussions are ongoing with the local authority and housing providers regarding workforce accommodation, including the potential to develop legacy housing as part of our pledge to support the delivery of 1000 new homes across the north of Scotland.
“We would like to thank all those who provided feedback as part of our pre-application consultation events which have been key in helping shape our proposals. We are committed to ongoing engagement with the local community through our dedicated Community Liaison Manager for the project, who can be contacted at slbb@sse.com”
