An onshore wind farm development that would provide clean electricity to meet the needs of around 21,000 homes each year has been given the green light by South Lanarkshire Council.
Banks Renewables’ planning application to build wind turbines at Mill Rig Wind Farm, near Darvel in East Ayrshire, is now on course to become operational within three years.
Straddling the South Lanarkshire and East Ayrshire border, the six turbines will have an installed generation capacity of around 36MW - enough to meet the electricity needs of all the households in a town around the size of East Kilbride.
The new £40m project should also displace more than 18,000 tonnes of CO2 annually from the UK’s electricity supply grid; the equivalent of removing almost 7,000 petrol cars from the road.
Robin Winstanley, sustainability and external affairs manager at Banks Renewables, said: “The development will bring many social, environmental and community benefits to the local area and we’re delighted South Lanarkshire Council has approved these exciting plans.”
The Hamilton-based renewables company has consulted with the community throughout the planning process and will set up a local community fund which is expected to create up to £180,000 revenue annually - translating into £5.4m over the expected 30-year lifetime of the project.
The economy in the local area should get local contracts worth £11.7m during construction, with business rates of £18m expected to be injected into public coffers, in addition to supporting many jobs over the lifetime of the development.
Winstanley added: “By working closely with the surrounding community, this project will help Scotland generate much needed clean, green electricity as well as providing local people and groups with funding to support the growth of important initiatives that benefit the communities close to Mill Rig Wind Farm.”
This project will be the latest for Banks Renewables, following on from approval for the Lethans Wind Farm in 2020 and the grid connection of the Kype Muir Wind Farm three years earlier.
Mill Rig will become Banks’ fourth operational Scottish development once construction is completed.
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