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Wind
farm plans
outlined
The proposals have been made by ABO Wind UK Ltd, who have provided the information below.
If
you have any views on the scheme, please email them using the link at
the foot of the page and we will post them on this website.
PROPOSED
NORTHWEST SALINE WIND FARM
ABO Wind UK Ltd
ABO Wind was founded in Germany in 1996 and is one of Europe's most experienced
wind energy developers with interests in Germany, France, Spain, Portugal,
Ireland and Argentina. ABO Wind UK Ltd, based in Scotland is a subsidiary
of ABO Wind.
The Proposal
ABO Wind UK is proposing to develop a wind
farm roughly 2km northwest of Saline. The
preliminary layout consists of 7 x 120m high
turbines.
The total installed capacity of this scheme would be 17.5 MW.
The proposed wind farm would also include access tracks, turbine foundations,
crane hardstandings at each turbine base, transformers and cables, underground
cabling, an electrical substation, a 50m wind monitoring mast and a temporary
construction compound.
Wind Farm Construction Should the Northwest Saline Wind Farm be granted
planning permission, construction work would be likely to begin around
2011.
The estimated on-site construction period is 6-9 months.
The proposed route for deliveries from the M9 to the site during the construction
period is via Kincardine Bridge, the A997, then south via the unclassified
road which crosses the Northwest Saline site.
Additional traffic would be generated during the construction period from
the following activities:
• Movement of staff and machinery to site for site preparation works;
• Delivery of road aggregate;
• Delivery of concrete batching material, sand, fuel and other materials;
and
• Delivery of turbine components.
The main disruption to local traffic is likely to be the delivery of turbine
components, which would take place intermittently over a 4-6 week period
(approximately). Deliveries would be timed to minimise impacts on local
traffic.
Grid Connection
The proposed grid connection point is roughly 3km to the northwest of
the wind farm site. Where possible, circuits from the Northwest Saline
site to the electricity network would be cabled underground to reduce
the visual impact in sensitive areas.
Environmental Assessment
The current 7 x 120m high turbine layout is preliminary only. Bird survey
work began in early April and a number of environmental assessments are
required to be completed over the coming months so that the wind farm
can be designed to avoid any sensitive areas. The work is carried out
so that impacts on local ecology, hydrology, cultural heritage and noise
disturbance can be avoided.
A thorough landscape and visual impact assessment will also be completed
and designers will use this information to evolve a wind farm design which
best suits the site.
The environmental impact assessment will be managed by Entec consultants.
Community Benefit Fund
If the wind farm is approved, ABO Wind proposes to contribute £2,500
per MW installed per annum, plus an initial one-off payment of £10,000
per MW installed to the local community.
It would be up to the local community to decide how the money is spent.
Individuals who are interested in forming a group to negotiate with ABO
Wind regarding uses for the benefit fund are encouraged to contact ABO
Wind.
Should Community Councillors choose to act as 'community negotiators'
it is recommended they forego any involvement in commenting on the planning
application on behalf of the Community Council.
Public Exhibition
A Public Exhibition will be held around August 2008, which will provide
detailed illustrations of what the wind farm is predicted to look like.
The Public Exhibition will be advertised.
ABO Wind will also issue newsletters to keep the local community updated
regarding the Northwest Saline proposal.
How to Have Your Say
Fife Council will be the determining authority for the wind farm planning
application, to be submitted in November, 2008 at the earliest.
When the Council receives the planning application it will invite comments
from the general public through an advertisement in the local press. Members
of the public are advised to keep their Community Council informed of
submissions.
Further Information
Jenny Walsh
walsh.jenny@abo-wind.com
Ph: 0800 066 5631
| email your comments to this website |
'Incredulous
bemusement'
over
plans
On the evening of 29th April, as a forerunner to the regular Saline and Steelend Community Council meeting, representatives of ABO Wind UK Limited, a branch of a German Company, gave a presentation to a large audience. Jim Tolson MSP and Cllr. William Walker were present.
This presentation concerned the proposed erection of a wind farm, consisting of seven turbines, in an area of land roughly 2 km northwest of the village of Saline.
The future intentions of the company are to submit a Scoping Report to the Council with a view to procuring an environmental impact assessment of the proposed wind farm.
In an earlier letter to the Chair of the Community Council, ABO Wind Ltd had indicated that a planning application would not be submitted until the end of 2008 at the earliest.
In their letter ABO Wind Ltd has also stated that in the event of a successful application, they would make a positive financial contribution to the local community.
Questions and comments from the floor were numerous and dealt with a variety of matters.
These included questions on the minimum distance between turbines and residences as it was assessed that there were some 20 residences within 1km of the proposed site. It emerged that there do not appear to be any UK guidelines on these distances, which was considered surprising in view of the noise that emanates from turbines attached to 80 metre diameter wings. Additionally, a number of people stated that the proposed area for the wind farm was on the migratory route for at least two species of geese.
In answer
to a question about the reasons for constructing a wind farm in this particular
location, the response from ABO Wind Ltd was that this was in an area
identified in Fife Council’s Local Structure Plan as being available
for possible wind farm development.
A further matter was raised concerning the access to the site.
It was revealed that the size of the masts would require extremely large haulage vehicles and that heavy lift cranes would require to traverse a narrow country lane. Reconstruction of the road would be essential, necessitating ingress into fields, and perhaps the destruction of ditches and damage to field drainage.
ABO Wind's representative stated that such matters would be dealt with in the Environmental Impact Assessment.
The difficulties in connecting the wind farm to the national grid were also raised.
The ABO Wind representative stated that underground cables would be necessary to connect the wind farm to the grid. Details concerning the length of cable and its precise path across fields were not available.
A question was asked relating to the amount of subsidy the company would receive from the UK Government.
The company’s representative could not provide any figures, as this was dependent on the amount of electricity generated. She did, however, inform the meeting that the construction costs of the farm would be recovered in six months from the commissioning date.
It is the intention of ABO Wind Ltd to return to Saline sometime in August for a day in order to make themselves available to answer questions and to give more detailed information on the construction and operation of the wind farm.
The general view of the meeting was one of incredulous bemusement that a foreign company would contemplate the construction of industrial power structures in a beautiful rural valley in close proximity to farmhouses and cottages.