AN IRISH COMPANY will push ahead with a massive wind farm project in Scotland after winning a crucial legal battle.

Dublin-based Mainstream Renewable Energy is leading the development of the proposed Neart Na Gaoithe project which would include dozens of turbines being built across an area of about 100 sq km off the east Scottish coast.

The venture is one of the largest ever in the UK and has an estimated development cost of £2 billion (€2.3 billion).

It would have a capacity of 450 megawatts, enough to meet the annual energy demands of about 325,000 homes.

Mainstream, headed up by Airtricity founder Eddie O’Connor, is planning to take the venture to a construction-ready stage before selling it on.

While the project received planning approval from the Scottish government, a conservation group, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, lodged a challenge to the construction of the 646m-tall turbines last year.

Mainstream CEO Eddie O'Connor Gareth Chaney / RollingNews.ie Gareth Chaney / RollingNews.ie / RollingNews.ie

The society claimed that Neart Na Gaoithe and three other wind farms recently approved in Scotland pose “too great a risk to the many thousands of resident and migratory seabirds”.

Risk

The future of the project seemed to be in jeopardy when a judge ruled last July that there were flaws in the planning process and ordered that the application be reconsidered.

However, it was announced that Scotland’s Inner House of the Court of Session has found in favour of the government’s decision to grant the planning application.

Mainstream’s offshore manager for Scotland, David Sweenie, said the company welcomed the ruling.

“This £2bn project is capable of supplying all the homes in a city the size of Edinburgh with clean energy,” he said.

It was feared that the farms could kill seabirds such as puffins puliarf puliarf

He added: “As a nationally-significant infrastructure project, Neart na Gaoithe will help Scotland and the UK meet their climate and energy goals, and develop a world-leading offshore wind sector.

“We plan to move quickly with all our partners to bring this project to construction, and deliver the vitally important jobs and investment that it will create.”

Sign up to our newsletter to receive a regular digest of Fora’s top articles delivered to your inbox.

Written by Paul O’Donoghue and posted on Fora.ie