Wind power sector

Argyll has some of the first commercial wind farms to be constructed in Scotland. Scottish Power, Scottish and Southern Energy, Powergen Renewables, AMEC and National Wind Power all have wind farms in Argyll. Three are based in Kintyre, one in North Argyll and two in Cowal with a number of others in the pipeline.

Although the communities in which these wind farms are based are receiving direct benefit from the developers in the form of voluntary payments, usually distributed through local community councils, it is a small amount in relation to the overall revenue stream produced by these developments. These contributions from the developers are normally about £1,000 per Megawatt. In a recent move to improve this position Argyll and Bute Council have entered into a 'concordat' agreement with Scottish Power in which this utility has agreed to increase the amount per megawatt for all of their future renewable energy generation in the council's area. While the exact figures have yet to be concluded a figure of £3,000 per megawatt is under review. The council is also still to map out exactly how this new funding will be shared between the local community in which the new development would be sited and benefit accruing to the wider Argyll and Bute community. One method would be to utilise the extra funds to support ALIenergy in their energy efficiency educational role and in their work in community based renewable energy projects. As a gesture of their good intent Scottish Power, as part of the concordat agreement, will fund ALIenergy's educational programme to the tune of £32,000 in the coming year. It is the Councils intention to engage in a like manner with other large renewable power generators.

The Enterprise company thinks that this is an excellent step in the right direction and will continue to support ALIenergy in their worthwhile endeavours. In particular we will continue to pursue the Network's wider policy of community ownership of renewable electricity generation.
We have recently concluded a funding package for the Gigha wind farm project which will be the first community owned wind farm in Scotland. We now hope to replicate this formula with projects on Tiree and Lismore along with two larger community owned projects on Islay and on Mull and will be liaising with these communities to bring these plans to fruition. This consultative process will also involve our partnership organisations such as Scottish Natural Heritage, Argyll and Bute Council, SEPA and the RSPB. The benefits of community ownership of these projects is substantial and represents our stated aim of encouraging the growth of sustainable, social enterprises and empowering communities to undertake projects which fulfill their own proprieties. 

To give a indication of the scale of this revenue stream the following represents some rule of thumb estimates within the wind power sector.

• Development costs - approx £1 million per megawatt
• Annual Revenue - approx £100,000 per megawatt (includes ROCS* subsidies)
• Break even after 10-12 years.
• Annual Maintenance and operations £20,000 per turbine (2% of installed costs)
• Life expectancy of average wind turbine 18-22 years

Also to be factored into the above costs are the interest payments for the capital borrowed and a contingency fund for equipment replacement and other unforeseen costs.
Even with the high capital outlay and the long time period before a return on investment is realised the amount available in the last 8 -10 years of the project would be in the order of £50,000 - £70,000 per megawatt each year. At the end of this time period the community can decide whither to dismantle the wind farm or use their contingency fund to carry out a major refit to continue the project (This would probably involve the replacement of the turbine blades at a cost of 15 -20% of the original installation cost.).

In order to assist communities with developing this type of project the Network has created a Community Energy Company to be based in our Inverness HQ. They will seek to provide the technical expertise and project management skills required to take this type of project forward along with avenues of funding opportunities.    
Please use our 'Contact us ' page if you would like further information.

At the other end of the scale projects are now under way to test prototypes of a new roof mounted wind turbine which would be connected into the electrical supply of individual buildings or homes. Edinburgh company, Renewable Devices, are offering these prototype units at a cost of £7,700 installed during this demonstration phase. The device, the Swift rooftop energy system as it is called, is a 1.5kw five bladed turbine which is almost silent in operation. It integrates with your grid connection and reduces your electricity consumption by offsetting this home grown generation against your existing supply by up to approximately 4000kw per annum. The company are confident that this system will also be eligible for Renewable Obligation Certificates (ROCs) and an energy tax reduction due to the Climate Change Levy. This could amount to a reduction in energy costs of up to £400 per annum.
Renewable Devices hope to go into commercial production of these systems by mid 2005 and are confident that the cost per unit will drop to a cost somewhere in the region of £1500 fully installed.
Two other Scottish companies are involved in the micro wind market. Windsave from Glasgow and Proven Energy from Stewarton. Windsave also plan to introduce a 1Kw roof mounted system in 2005 for just under £1000 but not grid connected. Proven Energy have a long track record in this field and many of the small wind turbines already in use across the Highlands have been supplied and erected by this company. The system on Tiree was provided by Proven. As a comparison their 2.5kw turbine on a 6.5 metre mast is about £9,500 for a grid connected system. They also supply models suitable for battery charging and for direct heat.   
Community groups could apply for a grant to assist with the purchase of these types of units through the Scottish Community and Household Renewables Initiative (SCHRI) scheme and householders can get assistance of up to 30% funding towards the costs of installing such a device through the same scheme.

We are currently investigating the possibility of mounting rooftop devices of this type on community village halls. One of the largest factors in running costs for this type of building, were there is intermittent usage, is their heating and lighting bills. In situations were the electrical usage is low it could well be the case that power generated could exceed the power consumed by the building thus delivering an income stream rather than a cost thus helping the sustainability of this type of community asset. Please use our 'Contact Us' page if you are a community group and would like further information on roof mounted wind turbines. 
We are also working with ALIenergy and Argyll and Bute Council to look at the feasability of mounting these devices on schools and council buildings throughout Argyll.
PDF documents with further details of the Swift Rooftop Energy System and the Windsave device are available for download from our web site (see the panel on the right of this page). Links to Proven Energy and Windsave's web sites are also included.         

A list of operational, under construction and planned wind farms in Argyll