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A bid for a new battery energy storage system (BESS) has been placed on Scottish Borders Council’s planning agenda, sparking concerns from locals over the potential damage to the landscape.

It is extremely disappointing to read reports today that a golden eagle called Sparky has been killed by a wind turbine on Windy Rig Wind Farm in Galloway.

The Southern Scotland Golden Eagle Project (SSGEP) has exceeded all predictions in its success and there are now more than 40 young eagles soaring around the uplands of Southern Scotland where a few years ago there was barely a handful.

The march towards even taller turbines for wind farms appears to be continuing.

Campaign group, Duns Lees Hill SOS – Save our Skyline (DLH), has submitted an objection to the Energy Consents Unit (ECU) in response to the proposed Lees Hill Renewable Energy Park from developer Fred Olsen Renewables Ltd.

A new government consultation has been launched which aims to speed up the planning process for large-scale energy projects in Scotland. It has raised concerns amongst many in the Scottish Borders.

A second preliminary meeting for Greystone Knowe Wind Farm was held earlier this month to discuss when the inquiry will be held and how key issues would be addressed.

A wind farm which has been been hit with a number of delays is finally completed and operational in Hawick.

Scotland has generated more renewable energy so far this year than in any other year, according to new statistics from the Scottish Government.

If anyone needs reminding of the frustration and complexity that surrounds the planning system for wind farms, they do not have to look further than the case of Greystone Knowe near Heriot in the Borders where developers are seeking permission to build 14 turbines with a maximum height of up to 180 metres.

A second pre-examination meeting for the Greystone Knowe Wind Farm application is due to take place tomorrow (Thursday 10 October at 10am).

“From national parks to rewilding and wind farms, people in the countryside are fed up of being ignored by politicians” – this is the feeling of many which has been summed up in The Times today.

...but seeks to speed up planning consent

A new wind farm bid near Tweeddale has been put forward to the Scottish Borders Council’s planning committee.

The intervention of East Lothian Council leader, Councillor Norman Hampshire, to object to a proposed wind farm in the Lammermuir Hills encapsulates the major concerns regarding further wind development.

The revelation that Scotland is lagging behind in the manufacturing and fabrication of turbines and offshore infrastructure has raised interesting questions about renewable energy in Scotland.

The new Labour government has made its position on wind energy very clear, and early polling suggests this isn’t going unnoticed, but there’s no denying that enormous challenges remain.

This proposed development near Heriot has been repeatedly rejected. The developer has now launched a further appeal to Scottish Borders Council.

Some fascinating new research by the Renewable Energy Foundation (REF), as reported in the Daily Mail, has revealed that constraint payments – the cash that is paid by taxpayers to wind farm operators to switch off their wind farms when the grid risks being overloaded – is set to reach record levels this year.

An application has been submitted to construct a 27MW solar farm at the Crystal Rig Wind Farm.