Consent given for £40m windfarm

Planning consent has been granted for the development of a 36MW wind farm at Toddleburn in the Scottish Borders, which

(SSE) agreed to acquire from I&H Brown in May 2006.

The decision follows a public inquiry into the development, which was concluded in May 2006.

The wind farm will have 12 turbines and construction work is expected to begin later this year, with the wind farm scheduled to be commissioned in early 2009. Its development will require the investment of around £40m.

When Toddleburn and SSE’s other recently consented development at Drumderg are commissioned, SSE will have a total of over 230MW of installed wind farm capacity at six sites in Scotland. This includes the 6MW extension to the Tangy wind farm which is currently under construction.

In addition to Drumderg, SSE is seeking to secure consent during 2007 to develop another five wind farms in Scotland, with a total installed capacity of almost 300MW.

Ian Marchant, Chief Executive of SSE, said: ‘I am pleased that the Toddleburn wind farm has received consent, and we will work to ensure that the construction work at Toddleburn is carried out efficiently and with minimal disturbance to the local community.

‘While we have had two recent successes, securing consent to develop wind farms remains very difficult and time-consuming process, and reform is essential if Scotland’s renewable energy ambitions are to be fulfilled.’