Corriemoillie wind farm Environmental Statement Volume 1 November 2009 Preface This Environmental Statement has been prepared in support of an application under the Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1997 (as amended by The Planning etc (Scotland) Act 2006) for the development of a wind farm at Corriemoillie, in Ross Shire. The Environmental Statement comprises the following documents: Non-Technical Summary (NTS); Environmental Statement Volume 1; and Technical Appendices Volume 2 In addition to the above, the application is accompanied by a Planning Statement, which has been submitted in support of the application but which does not form part of the Environmental Statement. The Environmental Statement can be viewed, along with the other documents referred to in this section at The Highland Council Planning Department, Glenurquhart Road, Inverness, IV3 5NX. The ES can also be viewed by the public during normal working hours at the following locations: Further copies of the NTS are available free of charge and the Environmental Statement may be purchased for £300.00 per hard copy or £20 for CD-ROM from: E.ON Climate & Renewables Westwood Way Westwood Business Park Coventry CV4 8LG Email: [email protected] Telephone: 02476 183067 November 2009 Corriemoillie Windfarm Environmental Statement Contents Corriemoillie Wind Farm Environmental Statement Contents 1. Introduction 2. Approach to EIA 3. Project Description 4. Policy Context 5. Landscape and Visual Assessment 6. Ecology 7. Ornithology 8. Forestry 9. Hydrology, Geology and Hydrogeology 10. Cultural Heritage 11. Noise 12. Traffic and Transport 13. Socio-Economics, Tourism and Land Use 14. Other Considerations November 2009 Corriemoillie Windfarm Environmental Statement Chapter 1 – Introduction Structure of the Environmental Statement Chapter 1 - Introduction 1.9 The ES comprises the following stand alone documents: Project Outline Non-Technical Summary (NTS) which summarises the key information presented in the Environmental Statement in a non-technical manner; 1.1 RPS has been appointed by E.ON Climate and Renewables UK Developments Limited (E.ON) to The Environmental Statement which reports the findings of the EIA; prepare an Environmental Statement (ES) to accompany an application under the Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1997 to The Highland Council for permission to construct and Technical Appendices detailing technical information; and operate a Wind Farm in Corriemoillie Forest (the proposed Wind Farm). The proposed Wind Farm Confidential Annexes containing sensitive ecological information which as a matter of law would be approximately 7km northwest of Garve and located in Ross and Cromarty East. The cannot be made available to the public. location of the proposed Wind Farm is shown in Figure 1.1. 1.10 The Environmental Statement is structured as follows: 1.2 The planning application boundary and the layout of site infrastructure are shown in Figure 1.2. Chapters 1, 2, 3 and 4 describe the background to the project, EIA process and 1.3 The location of this proposed Wind Farm is adjacent the site of the consented Lochluichart Wind methodology, the project details and planning context respectively; Farm and this relationship is shown in Figure 1.3. Although a separate project, the proposed Chapters 5 - 13 detail the technical assessments of the potential environmental impacts of turbine heights and appearance will be similar to this consented scheme. the development, the proposed/adopted mitigation measures to reduce any negative effects, ongoing consultation and monitoring; and 1.4 Under the terms of the Environmental Impact Assessment (Scotland) Regulations 1999, an Chapter 14 considers communications, aeronautical interests, other infrastructure, shadow Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) has been undertaken to identify and assess the likely flicker, waste management, and safety and security in respect of the proposed Wind Farm. environmental effects of the proposed development and recommend mitigation measures. This ES reports the findings of the EIA. The Developer 1.5 The proposal is for the construction and operation of 19 wind turbines with a likely output of 47.5 1.11 E.ON has taken a leading role in the development of wind power in the UK since 1991, when they megawatts (MW) and other associated infrastructure including: invested in their first wind farm. They now operate 21 wind farms – 19 onshore and 2 offshore – and are currently completing Robin Rigg in the Solway Firth, which will be one of the largest 3 borrow pits; offshore wind farms in Europe. E.ON has already built and is operating two wind farms in One permanent anemometer mast; Scotland: Wind farm control building; Transformers and cables from the wind turbines to the wind farm substation; Bowbeat in the Scottish Borders with a capacity of 31.2 MW; and Upgrade of existing access tracks; Deucheran Hill, near Carradale, Kintyre with a capacity of 15.8 MW. Construction of new access tracks providing access to all turbine locations; Crane hardstanding areas adjacent to each wind turbine; 1.12 E.ON is one of the only UK wind farm developers currently certified to the internationally Temporary construction compound; and recognised environmental management standard, ISO 14001, and as such places a great Temporary laydown area. emphasis on the proper management of environmental risk during construction of its wind farms. 1.6 The project will also involve the construction of a grid connection. The details of the proposed The Project Team Wind Farm project are provided in Chapter 3 (Project Description). 1.13 RPS Planning and Development (RPS) has prepared the ES, managed the EIA process and have 1.7 It is proposed that the Wind Farm would generate electricity for 25 years after which time it would undertaken all the technical assessments in the EIA, including: be removed or an application made for further planning permission to extend the duration of operation at the site in accordance with a scheme to be agreed with Highland Council. Planning Context; Landscape and Visual Assessment; 1.8 The final proposed Wind Farm layout comprising 19 turbines and associated infrastructure (Figure Ecology; 1.2) has evolved during an iterative design process over the duration of the EIA and is described Ornithology; in more detail in Chapter 2 (EIA process). Consultation has been carried out throughout. Forestry; Hydrology, Geology and Hydrogeology; Cultural Heritage; Noise; Traffic and Transport; Corriemoillie Wind Farm Environmental Statement Chapter 1 – Page 1 Chapter 1 – Introduction Tourism, Socio-economics and Land use; and and by a range of international and national targets. The Highland Council has incorporated this Other Considerations (telecommunications, aviation and shadow flicker). policy into their Development Plan. However, it is important to note that these targets are not fixed “ceilings”, and the Climate Change bill in particular requires frequent revisions of targets and 1.14 RPS is one of the UK’s largest Environmental Consultancies. The RPS team has over 100 more stringent emissions reductions over time. consultants, technicians and engineers with specific skills and experience relevant to wind development projects and has been engaged in onshore wind projects totalling over 3,000 MW. Wind Power 1.22 The harnessing of wind energy is one of the best placed renewable technologies available in the 1.15 The legal review has been undertaken by Eversheds LLP. UK because it has the windiest countries in Europe 3 and improvements in technology have resulted in the cost of wind power falling close to those of conventional sources of electricity. Wind Justification for Development is therefore both the most abundant and one of the cheapest of the UK's renewable energy resources 4. Climate Change Corriemoillie Wind Farm 1.16 There is now unequivocal evidence of climate change, from observations of increases in global average air and ocean temperatures, widespread melting of snow and ice and rising global Energy Generation average sea level 1. The main human influence on global climate is emissions of key greenhouse 1.23 The proposed Wind Farm would have the capacity to produce a maximum of 416.1GWh of gases, specifically: Carbon Dioxide (CO 2), Methane (CH 4) and Nitrous Oxide (N 2O). electricity per annum assuming all turbines are operating at full potential for 24 hours a day at 1.17 The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), a body of United Nations scientists optimum wind speed. Due to natural variations in wind speed it has been estimated that the which monitors studies examining the effects of climate change, reported an increase in output from a wind farm is approximately 30% of the maximum output. The energy output from the wind farm would therefore be approximately 124.83 GWh per annum based on 2.5 MW turbines. atmospheric CO 2 concentration from a pre-industrial value of about 280 parts per million (ppm) to 379 ppm in 2005. About two-thirds of the observed increased atmospheric carbon concentration is 5 due to the carbon emissions released from the burning of traditional fossil fuels (notably coal and 1.24 Based on 2006 electricity sales data , the average Scottish household uses 4.5 MWh per year, oil). thus the proposed Wind Farm is expected to be able to provide electricity for approximately 31,000 households. In 2007, there were approximately 217,440 households in the Highland Council Area 6; therefore the equivalent of approximately 14% of households in the Highlands 1.18 This increase in the concentration of CO 2 and other greenhouse gases in the atmosphere affect the way the earth retains heat and the worlds leading environmental scientists have concluded could have their annual electricity consumption supplied by Corriemoillie Wind Farm. This this process is leading to an increase in the earth’s average temperature, causing climate change. percentage may decrease slightly during the lifetime of the wind farm due to predicted population growth in Scotland as a whole 7.