Greater community benefit sought from Yell wind farms
COMMUNITIES in the North Isles of Shetland are keen to see a higher rate of community benefit paid out from Statkraft’s two planned wind farms in Yell.
Unst Community Council member Alec Priest said there is a desire to see between at least £8,000 and £9,000 paid out per installed megawatt a year.
Yell Community Council chair Annette Jamieson said a request for higher rates will remain under discussion through a community liaison group for the two Yell wind farms.
Priest said the desired higher rate would keep the guidance figure of £5,000 per megawatt, reinforced in 2014 by the Scottish Government’s ‘good practice principles’, in line with inflation over the last 12 years.
However a spokesperson for Statkraft said the company has committed to £5,000 per megawatt, index-linked to CPI (consumer price index) from March 2024.
Statkraft is planning two wind farms in Yell – the 18-turbine Energy Isles development to the north west, and Beaw Field in the south, which would have 17 turbines.
While discussions are ongoing regarding the area of benefit, it has been agreed that community benefit would cover Yell, Unst and Fetlar.
Statkraft says under the £5,000 per megawatt principle then the 126MW Energy Isles could pay out a total of £630,000 a year to the three years.
For the 72MW Beaw Field, that could be £360,000 a year.
But any income would be some way off, with the two wind farm developments only likely to be able to be connected to the grid in 2032, with construction currently slated to begin 2029/30.
Community benefit payments have long been a source of debate and contention locally, and elsewhere too.
In Scotland the payments are voluntary, with the guidance being that they are £5,000 per installed megawatt a year.
The Scottish Government has proposed increasing this to a suggested £6,000, but one recent Shetland election candidate called this “laughable”.
There is also tension in that community benefits are linked to installed capacity and not production value. Shetland, with its high winds, is said to receive a smaller proportionate share of proceeds than elsewhere.
SSE’s 103-turbine, 443MW Viking wind farm in Shetland’s Central Mainland pays out £2.2 million a year into Shetland Community Benefit Fund.
This is then dispersed among community councils in addition to pots of funding being retained for higher-level, strategic projects.
The fact that SSE receives many more millions in constraint payments, when energy cannot be used by the National Grid, can also be difficult to reconcile for some.
Regarding the two Yell wind farms, Jamieson said that communities are aware that the rate of £5,000 per megawatt was “set many years ago, and hasn’t increased since then”.
“We will continue to have meetings with Statkraft to ensure the request for higher rates are under discussion,” she added.
Priest meanwhile said there needs to be a scheme that is “seen as fair by the communities directly impacted by the developments, otherwise the confidence in the process is eroded away”.
While Statkraft’s two wind farms could in theory pay out around £1 million a year across the three North Isles areas, a community-owned wind farm in Yell with just five turbines regularly provides more.
North Yell Development Council’s Garth wind farm near Cullivoe, which has a capacity of 4.5MW, sees profits – usually a seven figure sum – reinvested into the community and the local development company.
If the two Yell Statkraft wind farms hypothetically had an annual community benefit of £8,000 per megawatt a year instead of £5,000, then the total annual sum could rise to more than £1.5 million.
Another onshore wind farm proposed is Neshion, near to Sullom Voe Terminal.
Taking a different angle, Neshion – an eight-turbine energy park developed by Shetland Aerogenerators – is proposing a local electricity discount scheme for people living in surrounding areas.
It is also considering a range of other benefit options including support for education and training, contributions to existing community funds or charitable initiatives and environmental enhancement.
Neshion is also proposing to make at least five per cent of the project available for community ownership.
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