by LESTER CROSS
The company promoting a massive renewables development close to Hawick is planning to bring huge components, including 210ft long turbine blades via roads south of the town in a bid to avoid a repeat of the 'logistical fiasco' associated with construction of the so called Pines Burn wind farm in the same area.
Meanwhile, Muirhall Energy which is seeking permission for the 52-turbine Teviot Wind Farm has confirmed it has signed a community benefits agreement with no fewer than 12 community councils - a deal estimated to be worth £2.45 million annually or £98 million over the lifetime of the facility.
But despite Muirhall's efforts to address concerns and opposition to their plans - the original scheme has been scaled back from 62 turbines to 52 - there remain a number of issues which have provoked a large number of objections.
After several delays, Scottish Borders Council is due to decide whether to support or oppose the Teviot project at a meeting in March. The final outcome will rest with the Scottish Government.
Local councillors will be only too aware of the anger and frustration of many residents and businesses who suffered while Energiekontor installed seven turbines at Pines Burn, a project which experienced 'manifold challenges', according to the company.
These included increased capital costs and a substantial drop in output value.
Roads and streets in and around Hawick were frequently clogged or closed altogether as the heavy goods vehicles carrying the tilted turbine blades crawled from a storage area alongside the A68 road near Jedburgh to the development site. The decision to route this abnormal traffic through Hawick itself proved to be disastrous.
According to the minutes of a meeting convened to consider the Pines Burn issues, Morrisons supermarket in Hawick lost £25,000 worth of trade in a single day thanks to the road closures while there were claims that at least one rural business had been forced to close its doors permanently.
It is understood a number of businesses and individuals investigated the possibility of seeking compensation from the developers. Some were told there was no compensation mechanism in such cases.
Energiekontor laid some of the blame for the traffic issues on a lack of communication between developer and local authority. There had also been delays before Scottish Power removed overhead lines to facilitate the movement of the turbine blades.
A Pines Burn community benefits fund, originally promising annual payments of £150,000 for seven nominated community councils - based on 12 turbines - was revised down to £87,500 linked to the seven operational turbines. The contract is still to be signed.
In a newly lodged statement in support of the Teviot project, Muirhall's senior project manager Kirsten Leckie acknowledges the community's concerns about the potential disruption caused by the proposed access route through Hawick.
"In response, we are actively exploring the feasibility of an alternative southern approach route for delivering the largest wind turbine components to the site. This proposed route would make use of existing infrastructure that has a proven track record for transporting similar components successfully. Currently, we are formalising land agreements—already agreed upon in principle—and conducting internal assessments to evaluate the planning implications and the scope of any necessary remedial works. We will provide further updates as soon as we have a clearer understanding of the route’s full feasibility."
The statement says Muirhall continues to demonstrate its commitment to mitigate the most significant effects on 'local and environmental receptors' by actively investigating alternative opportunities to avoid repeating the community's recent experience with turbine component transportation.
"Our primary focus is identifying a viable route that accommodates the large components while minimising disruption to residents".
According to Muirhall the infrastructure project associated with Teviot Wind Farm will greatly increase the network capability between Southern Scotland and Northern England, and will also increase access to the transmission network in the Borders area, by forming part of the new north to south electrical spine.
"The key benefits of this reinforcement include: provision of significant capacity for power flows between Scotland and England; reduction in constraint costs for consumers; and enabling onshore and offshore wind to be used more effectively. This reinforcement along with its associated developments, is crucial for alleviating the extreme congestion in the regional grid network".
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