SSE receives consent for wind farm

(SSE) has been granted planning permission by the Scottish government to develop an 87.5MW wind farm at Gordonbush in south east Sutherland.

The wind farm will have 35 turbines and construction work is expected to begin soon.

This consent adds to the 2,000MW of renewable capacity that SSE announced it had achieved at the end of March 2008, and takes SSE forward toward its goal of 4,000MW of renewable capacity by 2013.

'While the Gordonbush proposal has spent almost five years in the planning system, there are encouraging signs that the planning process is beginning to speed up,’ said Ian Marchant, chief executive of SSE. ‘Given the scale of the energy challenges facing the country, it is important these encouraging signs represent a sustained commitment to a better planning process.'