The consent for repowering of Hagshaw Hill wind farm marks the start of a trend which will grow as more wind farms approach the end of their operational life.
Powering the Future
The key role of repowering can be seen in RenewableUK’s recent report “Powering the Future“.
That sees on-shore wind in Scotland playing a significant role:
THE MODEL INDICATES THAT THE MAJORITY OF ONSHORE WIND PROJECTS WILL BE LOCATED IN SCOTLAND (OVER 20GW BY 2050). PLANNING REGULATION IS A DEVOLVED POWER AND A MORE FAVOURABLE PLANNING FRAMEWORK FOR NEW BUILD IN SCOTLAND, ALONG WITH CLEARER GUIDANCE SUPPORTING REPOWERING PROJECTS ARE LIKELY TO MAKE IT MORE ATTRACTIVE FOR PROJECT OWNERS.
The mention of clearer guidance supporting repowering is linked to a warning about the risks of new wind farm installations being outpaced by the retirement of older projects.
The scale of potential repowering is apparent from the graph for their high forecast, which shows over 50% of on shore wind capacity in the UK coming from repowered projects by 2050.
National Planning Framework 4
The Scottish Government is working on NPF4, and expect to lay a draft in the Scottish Parliament in autumn 2021. Our blog called for NPF4 to address repowering:
- Should there be a presumption in favour of repowering existing onshore wind farms?
- And a more streamlined approach, with a basic rather than full assessment?
Moray Local Development Plan
The recent examination of objections to the Moray Local Development Plan recognises the need to avoid an overly rigid approach to repowering proposals:
THE COUNCIL’S SUGGESTED THIRD CRITERION WOULD REQUIRE CONSIDERATION OF THE EXTENT TO WHICH ANY REPOWERING PROPOSAL MAKES USE OF EXISTING INFRASTRUCTURE AND RESOURCES AND LIMITS THE NEED FOR ADDITIONAL FOOTPRINT. I FIND THE PRINCIPLE IDEA OF THIS TO BE SENSIBLE AND THAT IT REFLECTS GOOD PRACTICE, HOWEVER IT MAY NOT ALWAYS BE POSSIBLE OR APPROPRIATE IN ALL SITUATIONS. THEREFORE, I RECOMMEND THE INCLUSION OF “WHERE POSSIBLE” TO ALLOW FOR A SUITABLE ASSESSMENT TO BE MADE AND A DEGREE OF FLEXIBILITY TO BE APPLIED IN PARTICULAR CIRCUMSTANCES.
Environmental Impact Assessment
Controlling the scope of environmental impact assessment is an important issue if a more streamlined approach is to be taken to assessing repowering proposals.
Following consultation, Scottish Natural Heritage recommend the baseline for assessment should be the ‘current state of the environment’ as set out in the EIA regulations (ie. with original wind farm present). They had previously proposed that the EIA should assume the wind farm had been decommissioned (ie. without original wind farm).
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