Allt Duine Wind Farm Issue 2 March 2011. - RWE

Photomontage of proposed Allt Duine Wind Farm from Geal-Charn Moor*
Allt Duine Wind Farm Update
Further to our newsletter in July 2010, and the public
exhibitions held in Kincraig in September, RWE npower
renewables has submitted an application to Scottish
Ministers, under Section 36 of the Electricity Act 1989,
for a wind farm in the Monadhliaths Mountains,
Badenoch and Strathspey.
The proposed Allt Duine Wind Farm site is
within the Highland Council’s preferred
area of search for major wind farms.
Consultation with members of the public,
community councils and organisations
including the Highland Council, Scottish
Natural Heritage, Cairngorms National Park
Authority and the Scottish Environment
Protection Agency has helped to shape the
design and development of the proposed
wind farm.
With results obtained from a wide range
of studies and feedback from public and
statutory consultees the design of the
wind farm has now been reduced from
34 to 31 turbines with a maximum
height to blade tip of 125 metres.
At three locations the height to blade
tip has been restricted to 110 metres to
avoid visibility at viewpoints within the
Strathspey area.
Comment on the
application
Under Section 36 of the Electricity Act 1989,
any proposal to construct, extend or operate
an onshore wind farm with a capacity of over
50 megawatts (MW) requires the consent of
Scottish Ministers. RWE npower renewables
submitted an application to Ministers on
21st February 2011.
You can formally comment on the Allt Duine
Wind Farm application during the 28 day
consultation period until 13th April 2011.
Whilst you may have already provided comments
to RWE npower renewables, this is your
opportunity to formally comment on the
actual application directly to the decision makers.
Further information on how to submit your
comments can be found on the back page.
Allt Duine Wind Farm newsletter | Issue 02 | February 2011
View the
application
A copy of the application, including
copies of the Environmental Statement,
(ES) Visualisations, Planning Statement
and Public Consultation Report is
available to view during normal office
hours at:
Kincraig Post Office and Stores
Kingussie Learning Centre and Library
Aviemore Library
Inverness Highland Council HQ
Planning and Development
The Highland Council
Glenuquhart Road
Inverness
IV3 5NX
Copies of the ES may be obtained from
RWE npower renewables (contact
01738 825110) at a charge of £250
for a hard copy or £15 for a CD ROM.
Copies of the non-technical summary
are available to download free of
charge from our website at
www.npower-renewables.com

2 Allt Duine Newsletter | Issue 02 | February 2011
Keeping you
informed
RWE npower renewables outlined its
commitment to keeping local people
informed about the Allt Duine Wind
Farm proposal.
Full details of the public consultation
undertaken, including a summary of
the responses to our questionnaires
from the mailout and public exhibitions
held in September 2010 are detailed in
the Public Consultation Report included
with the application.
Based on some of the comments received,
it was apparent that some respondents
thought that the proposal would be more
visible in the Spey Valley. The proposed
turbines would be sited to the north of
the Cairngorms National Park (CNP)
boundary, in the catchment of the River
Dulnain. There would be very limited
visibility of the proposed turbines from
with the Spey Valley or along the A9.
Facts and figures
Location: North of Kincraig in Badenoch
and Strathspey
No. of turbines: 31 with an anticipated
capacity of 2-3MW
Tip height: up to 125m, except at
specific turbines where tip height is
restricted to 110m at three locations
Maximum anticipated capacity: 93MW
Homes supplied 1 : 43,000 1
The site statistics of the proposed wind
farm have changed since the first Allt
Duine Wind Farm newsletter was issued
in August 2010 and the public exhibitions
were held in September 2010.
As a direct result of feedback from
environmental studies, the local
community and statutory consultees
we have:
– reduced the number of turbines from
34 to 31 turbines
– restricted the height to blade tip to
110m at three locations, to limit the
visual impact and in some cases avoid
visibility from viewpoints within the
Strathspey area.
Site layout
Location map
Key

Photomontage of proposed Allt Duine Wind Farm from the Argyll Stone*
How we arrived at the final layout
We have considered the views of statutory and community
stakeholders through consultation and used the studies
undertaken as part of the Environmental Impact
Assessment to inform the final layout design.
The wind farm layout has been designed so
that no turbines are located:
– within 2.5km of an active or previously
occupied golden eagle nest
– within 50m of a water course
– on habitat used by protected species or
classified as highest sensitivity to change
– on a slope greater than 15 degrees, or in
areas where the local topography limits
wind resource
– on areas of deep peat or where peat is
heavily degraded.
Considerable effort has been given to
produce a turbine layout which achieves
the most satisfactory relationship with the
landform of the site whilst respecting other
environmental, technical and economic
considerations. Particular attention was
given to achieving a ‘balanced’ layout when
viewed from key viewpoints and summits
within the Cairngorm National Park (CNP),
and to minimising visibility of the turbines
from within the Spey Valley.
The routes of access tracks have been
designed to limit the overall length of
new track required (through efficient
design and use of existing tracks where
possible), follow the natural contours of the
land form and use the natural landform to
‘shield’ the track where possible.
All other infrastructure has been sited in
an effort to ensure the wind farm layout
would be practical and effective through
the construction and operation phases, but
to ensure potential environmental impacts
would be avoided or reduced.
Allt Duine Newsletter | Issue 02 | February 2011 3
Key milestones
1: Submission of Section 36 Application
February 2011
2: Public Consultation Period
February – April 2011
3: Local authority consultation period
February – July 2011
4: Scottish Ministers Decision
(if no further information
or public inquiry required)
November 2011
5: Construction period (if approved)
2013 – 2015
6: Wind Farm operational
2015 onwards
Future dates are subject to change

4 Allt Duine Newsletter | Issue 02 | February 2011
Comment formally
To formally submit your comments about the
Allt Duine Wind Farm planning application,
representations can be made by email to the
Scottish Government, Energy Consent Unit
mailbox at representations@scotland.gsi.
gov.uk or by post to The Scottish Government
Energy Consent Unit, Fourth Floor, 5 Atlantic
Footnotes:
1 Homes equivalent. Assuming the proposed wind
farm has an installed capacity of 77.5MW, based
on thirty one 2.5 MW turbines being erected on
site . It has the potential to supply in the region of
43,000 homes. Predicted energy generation has
been calculated using an assumed capacity of
30% (DTI Energy Trends UK regional capacity
factors 1998-2004) and is based on an installed
capacity of 77.5MW (note that the installed
capacity maybe higher or lower, subject to the
final turbine choice). The energy capture
predicted and the derived homes equivalent
Community
benefits
As reported in Issue One, if we are
successful in gaining consent, RWE npower
renewables intends to offer a community
benefit package in association with Allt
Duine Wind Farm.
The total value of the package is
dependent on the installed capacity of the
wind farm. Normally it takes the form of an
annual fund, which is available when the
wind farm is operational and throughout its
operational lifetime – in Allt Duine’s case
this is expected to be 25 years. We would
consult with a wide cross section of
community representatives before finalising
the details of the package.
Community benefit packages are a voluntary
benefit that RWE npower renewables
chooses to offer and are not a material
consideration of any planning decision.
You can help us shape the Community
Benefits Package at Allt Duine, to make
sure it really meets the needs of your
community, we would welcome
your feedback. Please contact our
Community Investment Officer at
community.investment@rwe.com
Quay, 150 Broomielaw, Glasgow G2 8LU.
Please clearly reference ‘Allt Duine Wind Farm’
to ensure your comments are submitted for
the correct planning application.
The consultation period is open until
13th April 2011.
figures may change as site specific information is
gathered. Equivalent homes supplied is based on
an annual electricity consumption per home of
4,700 kWh. This figure is supported by recent
domestic electricity consumption data available
from The Digest of UK Energy Statistics and
household estimates and projections from the UK
Statistics Authority.
Ordnance survey Crown Copyright. All rights
reserved licence number 100017907.
If you would like
this newsletter
in larger print
please contact
us on:
01738 825110
Contact us
For further information about the
project you can contact RWE npower
renewables on:
E-mail
Allt.Duine@npower-renewables.com
Post
RWE npower renewables
North Range East Lodge
Mill Road
Stanley Mills
Perthshire
PH1 4QE
Telephone
01738 825 110
Web
You can visit our website at:
www.npower-renewables.com/
alltduine
*Photomontages are computer generated
illustrations that aim to represent an accurate
image of the proposed site. These are not
intended to replace photomontages within
the Environmental Statement or the Highland
Council Visualisations and are for illustrative
purposes only.
This newsletter is printed on paper which has
been bleached without chlorine and made
exclusively of wood from sustainable forests.