THE Scottish Government has approved plans for a new wind farm and battery storage site.
Plans for the Knockkippen wind farm, outside the village of Patna in East Ayrshire, were approved by the SNP Government’s Energy Consents Unit on Wednesday.
Ministers took the decision in place of local authority East Ayrshire Council because the application was for an electricity generation site with a capacity above 50MW.
The wind farm will include 12 turbines on Knockkippen hill and Knockkippen moss, each with a maximum height of 180 metres. The approved plans also include a solar array, battery storage, and ancillary infrastructure.
The finished wind farm will have a maximum capacity of 96MW, according to the Energy Consents Unit.
On the Knockkippen wind farm website, it states: “Naturalis Energy Developments Ltd has developed proposals for a wind farm with the potential for solar and battery storage on site, on the southern edge of the North Kyle forest between Patna and Rankinston.
“The proposed site for Knockkippen wind farm, overlooks several former opencast mines.
“Between 1849 and 1965 there were around 52 ironstone and coal mines in the Patna area and mining was the mainstay of the local economy but subsequent pit closures have adversely impacted on local employment and economy.
“This renewable energy project will help the local – and Scottish economy – to meet its zero carbon target by 2045, generating clean, green energy from nature.”
The news comes as a group of nature charities called for SNP ministers to refuse consent for a wind farm at Berwick Bank, warning that it could be “catastrophic” for Scotland’s seabirds.
Berwick Bank is a much larger proposal and would have up to 307 turbines located in the outer Firth of Forth, around 40km off the Scottish coast near seabird sites like Bass Rock, St Abb’s Head and the Isle of May – which is home to puffins.
RSPB Scotland, the Marine Conservation Society, National Trust for Scotland, Scottish Wildlife Trust and Scottish Seabird Centre have united to call for the development to be refused and have written to Scotland’s First Minister John Swinney.
Berwick Bank has been awaiting a decision for two years after SSE Renewables submitted a planning application to the Scottish Government in late 2022.
