11 Mar 2026
The company which is advising both the Scottish government and a windfarm developer did not declare a conflict of interest when bidding for public sector contracts, a Freedom of Information response has revealed.
Xi Engineering, a specialist consultancy, is providing detailed guidance to America’s largest renewable energy company, Invenergy, which is seeking permission for the controversial Mid Hill wind farm in the Borthwickwater Valley, southwest of Hawick.
At the same time Xi Engineering is also advising the Scottish and UK government’s Eskdalemuir Working Group, funded partly by the renewable energy industry and partly by taxpayers.
The freedom of information response provided by the Scottish government’s energy directorate reveals that Xi Engineering did not declare a conflict of interest when bidding for public sector contracts worth hundreds of thousands of pounds.
Section 25 of the Public Contracts (Scotland) Regulations 2015 states that: “A contracting authority must take appropriate measures to prevent, identify and remedy conflicts of interest arising in the conduct of procurement procedures”.
Sarah St Pierre, from the Borthwickwater Landscape Conservation Group, said: “The Scottish government, in its rush to build more and more windfarms, is rubber-stamping almost every application, despite massive over-supply.
“Now it has emerged that a giant US energy company and the Scottish government are not only being advised by the same firm, Xi Engineering, but that firm did not declare a conflict of interest.
“It is of huge concern that the company which is providing the Scottish Government with the technical data to re-examine whether it’s appropriate to build wind farms in the 50km zone around the Eskdalemuir Seismic Array, should also be advising the company which has the most to gain if the exclusion zone is reduced. Where is the independent scrutiny?”
Xi Engineering has won five Scottish government contracts relating to seismic activity and the impact of wind turbines.
The FoI response details technical studies carried out since 2012, funded by the Scottish Government, UK Government, the Aviation Investment Fund Company Limited, and renewables industry firms. Seismic study work was commissioned to a total sum of £257,744.11. The Scottish Government’s share of this work was £50,137.00.
Between 2020 to 2022 the Scottish Government commissioned further technical studies relating to wind turbines. This work totals £462,851.60, of which the Scottish government paid £171,184.94.
In addition, the Scottish government may have contributed funding to contracts awarded by the Aviation Investment Fund Company Limited (AIFCL), which has commissioned research and made payments to Xi Engineering directly.
Chris Houston, Co-Chair of Borthwickwater Landscape Conservation Group said: “We are consistently told by the Scottish government and the developers that local communities are at the heart of the decision making process, but our experience proves nothing is further from the truth.
“We are deeply angered to find that Xi Engineering is not only advising the Scottish government but also at the same time the renewable energy sector, including the developer at Mid Hill, on how to build massive turbines in an area that has been highlighted as top priority for national security. How can this not be a conflict of interest that should have been flagged, and once flagged, why did it not rule out their appointment?
“This points to a worrying lack of due process and a headlong drive to impose numerous brutal wind farm developments on communities that overwhelmingly reject them.”
Invenergy’s controversial Mid Hill windfarm proposes 13 turbines up to 200 metres tall, with potential to generate 94MW of electricity, plus a 53MW energy storage facility, access tracks and infrastructure. The Ministry of Defence has lodged a formal objection to the scheme, warning that it poses an ‘unmanageable’ risk to the UK’s nuclear test monitoring capabilities and to military air operations.
The Mid Hill wind farm would be constructed within the safeguarding zone for the UK’s seismic array monitoring station at Eskdalemuir, with turbines planned between 15 km and 17 km from the globally significant facility.
The station, run by the Ministry of Defence and the only one in the UK, is part of a worldwide network used to detect nuclear tests and seismic activity anywhere in the world. It relies on an environment with minimal interference.
A 10 km exclusion zone and a 50 km safeguarding zone were established to prevent wind turbine development because the vibrations disrupt the collection of seismic data.
Following sustained lobbying from renewable energy developers, the UK and Scottish Governments convened the Eskdalemuir Working Group to re-examine the current zones and the group is now working to produce updated guidance on seismic impact limits and the effect of wind turbine vibration. There are fears that the size of the safeguarding zone will be reduced, in order to facilitate the construction of further wind farms in the region.
A decision on whether the exclusion zone around the Eskdalemuir Seismic Array should be reduced is expected in the coming weeks.