Location

South Lanarkshire Council area approximately 7km south-west of Strathaven.

Status

Proposal of Application Notice and Scoping Request submitted in April 2024 to South Lanarkshire Council.

Project benefits

An application for Mossmulloch Wind Farm will be made by Wind Power North 3 Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary company of Vestas Development A/S. Mossmulloch Wind Farm is being developed under the terms of an agreement between Force 9 Energy Limited and Vestas Development A/S.

Aside from its wider socio-economic and environmental benefits wind power is compatible with other land uses and can provide a boost for rural economic diversification.

Vestas and Force 9 Energy are committed to giving local businesses every possible opportunity to share in the financial and employment benefits of the construction and operation of the Mossmulloch wind farm. If constructed, Mossmulloch will offer opportunities for local businesses such as accommodation providers, hire companies, fencing contractors, tradesmen and machinery plant owners. If you are part of a local business, please contact us and we will register your interest and keep you informed about valuable opportunities for local businesses connected with the wind farm.

COMMUNITY BENEFIT
Vestas is committed to paying Community Benefit at the prevailing Scottish Government recommended rate: currently at a value equivalent to £5,000 per Mega Watt of installed capacity, for every year of operation (anticipated to be 30 years) to help fund community projects. For illustrative purposes, if a 40MW wind farm is constructed, this would be worth £200k per year (index linked) for local communities, for each year of operation – a total of up to £6 million over the project’s lifetime. These Community Benefit funds would be administered by a trust or similar body in which local people would serve as the trustees. The funds would be available for a variety of local good causes and, subject to certain guidelines, it would be up to the Trustees as to how best to distribute the available funds.

WIND POWER IN SCOTLAND
As Scotland aims to reach Net Zero by 2045, demand for electricity is expected to increase significantly. To ensure that Scotland is able to meet this heightened demand using clean, renewable energy, the Scottish Government has set ambitious targets to more than double the nation’s onshore wind generating capacity from 9.6GW (current installed capacity) to 20GW by 2030. As onshore wind farms are the lowest cost way to generate renewable electricity, developments such as the proposed Mossmulloch wind farm will play a key role in Scotland’s transition to a net zero society. In addition to the environmental benefits, the onshore wind industry supports a supply chain across the country which employs close to 9,000 people, and brings benefits to Scotland in the form of investment and skill development.