Letters / Call for immediate moratorium on wind farm developments

Contributed

17 June 2025 09:57

Local campaign group Sustainable Shetland is one of the signatories of this open letter to First Minister John Swinney. It was sent earlier this month.

Dear First Minister,

we are calling for an immediate moratorium regarding all further wind farm decisions and related infrastructure.

The purpose of a wind farm is to efficiently generate sustainable energy at a reasonable cost. That is not the case under the current policy approach—this is evident in our electricity bills. We are citizens from across Scotland who are deeply concerned about the direction the government has taken in managing the renewable energy transition in recent years. We believe this transition is being mishandled and driven by misguided incentives. Current subsidies are not aligned with the public interest and are leading to overdevelopment. A wind farm is most efficient when it is located near the end consumer. So why do wenot have a proper zoning policy? Instead, we are paying for electricity at a time when we are overproducing,using a grid that is not equipped to handle it.

The use of constraint payments results in a scattered and uncoordinated approach to wind farm site selection—often determined solely by landowners willing to cooperate. This approach cannot reduce energy prices inthe foreseeable future because, ultimately, it is the consumer who bears the cost. The more we build, themore we pay. Many of these sites will not be economically viable once subsidies are removed—even thedevelopers themselves acknowledge this. The wind farm proposals currently facing the various Council planning committees are not driven by market demand, especially considering their location and scale, but rather by short-term revenue interests.

Additional grid infrastructure alone will not resolve the issue of grid restrictions. It will simply increase overcapacity and lead to even more constraint payments.

Most importantly, the data clearly shows—beyond doubt—that enough renewable developments have already been built or consented to cover both Scotland’s peak electricity demand in 2050 and the full export capacity to England. The government must take these facts into account and provide a clear explanation tothe public. After all, it is the public who are financing a significant portion of these investments. The current policy has created adverse incentives.

Applications for new wind farms are now being submitted at an unprecedented scale. This overwhelms localcouncilors and places considerable strain on the democratic planning process. Planning officers have alsoraised concerns in many areas of Scotland. This situation must be reviewed and addressed.

The costs—both to the public and to nature—are immense and threaten Scotland’s standing as one ofEurope’s leading tourist destinations. The externalized costs, including the destruction of peatlands and the₂ release of stored CO2, are staggering when all sites are considered collectively.

Moreover, in many areas, battery storage facilities are being proposed, yet we lack the fire service capacity and training to deal with potential emergencies related to them.

This policy has significant weaknesses. The public has not been properly guided through this transition, and we are genuinely worried that if concerns like ours are ignored, more extreme political forces may exploit the issue, as has occurred in other countries.

Now is the time for the Scottish public to come together and find a balanced, effective path through this energy transition—one that truly works for the people. You as a governement cannot afford to lose publicsupport. A thorough and transparent analysis of the situation is urgently needed before any new consents are granted.

Therefore, we are calling for an immediate moratorium regarding all further wind farm decisions and related infrastructure.

Yours sincerely,

• Action Against Pylons: Scottish Borders Alliance