WIREDGOV

New advice for planning authorities on wind farms has been published today by the Scottish Government.

The Planning Advice Note (PAN) will help councils and national park authorities prepare their own guidance for considering wind farm applications to aid the development of clean, green energy across Scotland. The PAN will help authorities identify:

• areas where proposals are likely to be supported
• areas of significant protection (such as SSSI's, National Parks and Green Belts)
• areas where other constraints will have to be satisfactorily addressed.

Welcoming publication of the PAN, Infrastructure Minister Stewart Stevenson said:

"Scotland has to continue realising its renewable energy potential. We want to see the renewables industry grow but we do not want to see development anywhere or at any cost to the environment. The new Planning Advice Note will help planning authorities develop local solutions by making positive provision for renewable energy.

"This in turn will help developers and decision makers understand where there are opportunities for wind farms and where there are constraints.

"Renewable energy is central to our efforts to create a more successful country and has the potential to play a key role in helping our economy emerge stronger from the current downturn. That underlines the importance of our efforts to ensure Scotland's planning system is an aid to increasing sustainable economic growth, and this Planning Advice Note is an important step forward."

Scottish Planning Policy 6 - Renewable Energy - requires local authorities to prepare maps and policies (known as 'spatial frameworks') to guide wind farm developments in their areas.

A key principle of SPP6 is that wind farms should be accommodated where they can operate efficiently and environmental and cumulative impacts can be satisfactorily addressed.

The new advice will help councils apply this national policy. It describes the main stages in the process of identifying search areas, providing advice on the main issues for consideration and sources of further information. The advice does not change the SPP6 policy in any way.

Proposals to construct, extend or operate a wind farm with a generation capacity under 50 MegaWatts (MW) are submitted to the local planning authority. Proposals in excess of 50MW require the consent of Scottish Ministers.

Renewables capacity in Scotland has grown by a fifth in the last year alone and can now power 60 per cent of Scotland's homes. Installed capacity in Scotland now totals 3.009 GigaWatts.

Scottish Government targets are to meet 50 per cent of electricity demand from renewables by 2020, and an interim target of 31 per cent by 2011.

Adding in all the potential energy from already consented renewable projects to those already operating brings the total to 5.5 GW, meaning the Scottish Government is set to surpass the 2011 target.

Related Information

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2008/11/12125039/13

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Built-Environment/planning