Located 7.5km to the west of Rhynie, the Clashindarroch Wind Farm Extension proposal is for the erection of up to 22 wind turbines with an installed capacity of 6.6 megawatt (MW) each, a 50MW battery energy storage facility and associated infrastructure. At this early stage, blade tip heights of up to 200 metres are being considered for 13 of the turbines. The remaining 9 would have a proposed maximum blade tip height of up to 180m. Extensive landscape studies have been undertaken to reduce visual impacts from a range of viewpoints.
The site measures approximately 882 hectares which primarily consists of heather upland, managed as grouse moor. It adjoins the existing Clashindarroch Wind Farm to the west.
Why extend?
From a planning perspective, extending existing wind farms can have considerable advantages. For example, seen from a wider perspective, a wind farm cluster may have a lower visual impact than that of a number of separate wind farms that are sited across the area. Throughout the turbine layout design process, the project team have taken the layouts of the existing Clashindarroch Wind Farm and Clashindarroch Wind Farm II (still in planning) into consideration. As a result, when viewed together, the three projects would look like an integrated wind farm cluster.
Project Timeline
The first step in the project’s planning process is the scoping stage. The scoping report was submitted to the Scottish Government and a range of statutory consultees in August 2020. Responses to this scoping report have helped define the required environmental studies and shape the draft proposals as they stand today. Survey results and design iterations are documented in the Environmental Impact Assessment Report (EIA Report), which can be viewed on the Downloads page of this website. The Section 36 application was submitted in January 2023.