News / Peel Energy take over proposed Yell wind farm
THE NEW owners of the Beaw Field wind farm interest, in Yell, are confident that a decision on the subsea cable linking Shetland to the national grid will be made within the next 12 months.
Manchester based Peel Energy took over the wind farm project from German firm Enertrag at the end of last year.
The company said it would be hosting a series of public meetings this spring to present their plans for the site north west of Burravoe and to hear local views.
The company has been developing a number of smaller onshore wind farms mainly in Merseyside and Nottinghamshire. Peel Energy said they were looking at 20 to 30 turbines for the Beaw Field site, each 145 metre high.
Back in August 2011, Enertrag had planned to erect 17 turbines with a capacity of up to 100 megawatts, according to the company’s project manager Colin Dickie.
Peel Energy’s development manager Bernadette Barry said the company hoped to be able to complete the environmental and technical studies over the next year with a view to submit a planning application early in 2016.
She described Beaw Field as a promising site for a wind farm but added that it was “still a long way to go” before a final decision on the project could be made.
“It is not a bad site from a wind perspective. We look all over the country for potential sites, and when this one came up we felt that it was a good site and we begun the process of developing it.
“We think the subsea cable will happen. There is no hiding of the fact that this project would be less likely to go ahead if that subsea cable it not built.
“Hopefully we get some clarity on the cable within the next 12 months or so.
“We are taking the risk on that, and we hoping it will come good in the same way that Viking Energy does, and we hope that together the needs case for the cable will be slightly greater, and hopefully it will be a successful needs case that goes forward to Ofgem,” she said.
The UK government has said it would make an announcement of the strike price in July this year.
Barry added: “Peel is committed to providing lasting and tangible benefits to the communities in which it operates.
“We are keen to ensure that local people are fully engaged throughout the process at Beaw Field and have the opportunity to provide meaningful input into the project design.”
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