Our beloved Highlands, our communities and many of our friends and neighbours are being subjected to an onslaught of energy industry infrastructure, applications and developments.
These do not appear to have the same genuine respect for our environ- ment or ourselves as we do. Increasingly, it feels as if we are not being treated in a way that would be considered respectful, just, acceptable, or appropriate.
The agendas playing out are often ambiguous and at times misleading. We know there are many things we need for the Highlands in order to have a sustainable and thriving economy; however it should be created for and with us, one we consent to, rather than one that's driven at, and over us to satisfy the agendas of others. Energy companies claim we are being engaged with, but it's lip service, a tick box exercise.
They claim to listen to our views whilst planning to destroy them. Their actions suggest we are seen as minor irritants or obstacles of a done deal, indifferent, unaware, pushovers even. We are important though, each one of us and whatever our views, this is our home, this is our future. The consequences of allowing others to do as they feel to us and our environment without true care or our agreement, are too painful to consider.
Hearing how YOU feel, YOUR truth, is more valuable than you can imagine.
www.thewalloftruthcarrolrock.co.uk is a place where we can speak our truth.
But first, some information that you may find interesting.
Neighbour is being pitted against neighbour. As one local person or landowner is tempted with offers of riches and wealth by energy companies, others in the community are left feeling betrayed, angry, anxious, and in mourning for what they know will be lost and forever changed around them.
Our neighbours are having to. At public hearings they stand against teams from energy multinationals, led at times by bullish, arrogant and demeaning figures, whose masters wish the locals to fold under the relentless pressure of wind farm, BESS, and energy park developments they are encircling them with. If they fend off one unchained developer another appears, and then another. Our neighbours around Strath Oykel, Rosehall, Rogart, Beauly and so many other communities around the Highlands will tell you what they have had to do and are facing.
We can try to have our voices heard and object to planning applications, but once planning has been approved something more sinister can be summoned. Compulsory purchase orders (CPO) are a mechanism enabling certain bodies to acquire or take land from people without their consent. Energy companies are able to apply for, and use these laws to their advantage; the powers of the Electricity Act 1989, the Acquisition of Land (Authorisation Procedure)(Scotland) Act 1947. These are being used to enable enormous infrastructure and construction equipment to get to isolated rural sites during construction, or to take generated power across the Highlands to connect to the grid. It can involve our neighbours suffering personal loss or collateral damage whether they consent to it or not. Crofts, farms,paddocks, gardens, or even precious woodland can be ploughed through or cut down, so that energy companies can take their electrical produce to the market. In one single issue of a local paper, we saw more than 50 CPO’s related to a single windfarm in Caithness. If developers and SSEN are left to do what they are planning to do, the number of Highlanders soon to be affected will be off the scale.
A government report has identified them as having hazards that pose a serious risk to the immediate vicinity. These include explosions, toxic fumes, water run-off, ground contamination and, thermal runaway/battery fires that are so challenging a chief fire officer has stated that concerns over them have kept her awake at night. Unbelievable as it may seem, despite this, neither the Scottish Fire and Rescue service, the Health and Safety executive or SEPA are required to be statutory consultees on any planning applications. Is that right?
Visitors have come year after year to get a little slice of what surrounds us every day, and many of us depend on them for our survival. Where articles on the Highlands however were once about unspoiled wildernesses, stunning scenery, wildlife, rich history and wellbeing, they now use words like Gigawatts, Renewables, Net Zero, targets and ambition. Wellbeing is no longer on the page. If we don’t stand up for what brings them here, then who will? The Government is riding on the backs of the raiders destroying our landscapes and heritage,shouting “giddy up”! The fear, anxiety, pressure and worry caused by what is happening now, how it is happening and what may be about to happen outside their windows, has led to some of our neighbours upping and trying to move home. When that starts to happen something is very wrong. Where in the Highlands will they move to? Where will be spared?
Can you remember when turbines were around 55m to tip, before they crept up to100m then 150m? Each time we voiced concerns over the heights, visibility and the effects on the landscape and our environment and they claimed to listen. 150m became 180m and we said “What about the height? The heights a problem”. 180m grew to 200m . Now some applications for wind turbines onshore have increased to a colossal 230m to 250m. In our rural, natural, beautiful nature rich, picture post card environments. Did you know there are only 4 buildings (skyscrapers), in the entire United Kingdom that are higher than 230m? They are all in the city of London, on flat ground. Wind farms are on hills, but the energy companies and powers that be, seem intent on us having thousands more standing on them. Offshore ones are growing even larger. Can you believe when we now object, we are told it has to happen to prevent the environment from being destroyed or we are called anti-environment, NIMBYS, un-green, selfish? How is this being allowed to happen?
We constantly see press releases from wind farm developers saying how many homes their windfarm can power with cheap clean energy. 500,000 homes, 133,000 homes . Are you getting it? Can we see on a map which homes are getting this cheap clean energy? Are they in England or Scotland? In 2019 the World press announced that in the first half of that year, we-Scotland- had produced enough electricity from wind to power all our Scottish homes twice over. It seems 5 years later, regardless of all the sacrifices we are making with the production of their cheap clean energy, we are being rewarded with a system that,despite having it produced on our doorsteps, continues to charge us way more for it than others.
When referring to the rolling out of renewable energy infrastructure and developments, we hear statements from the industry and Ministers like, “we must do this faster than legislation allows”, or “this needs to be fast tracked if targets are to be met”. The flood gates have been opened and you would hope that Highland Council Planning, Nature Scot, Scottish Environment Protection Agency SEPA and others would be given increased funding and resources, to ensure that their work can be carried out thoroughly and not rushed. You would hope that Nature Restoration Projects, and Scottish Rural Development Programmes would also receive funding rather than cuts. Everybody knows what happens when you try to do a rush job. Accidents happen, mistakes are made, things are missed and 9 times out of 10, it’s a bad job!
SSEN Transmission and others say they are committed to “meaningful consultation” but at the same time, Sir Keir Starmer says undergrounding is too expensive. Ed Miliband vouches to deal with obstructionists or delayers as a matter of national security. Nick Winser, the UK’s electricity network commissioner and others want to remove our ability to trigger any public enquiries, as they believe politicians should decide, not us.
Any engagement developers have with us feels like lip service, a tick box exercise; we haveseen legislation changed to give more support to energy companies. National Planning Framework 4 and Section 36 consents have been brought into play. Now for any developments over 50MW, a Government Minister has the power to decide if certain projects go ahead. Even if we, our local Councils, Nature Scot, SEPA, RSPB, Historic Environment Scotland, Highland Council and Government Reporters say NO, a Government Minister can decide to say YES if it suits them on the day. Democracy and our voice is being eroded.
If you were developing a new national park, involved in an urban regeneration scheme, planning the Oasis tour, moving giant pandas back to China or releasing a new shampoo, you would have a project director, project managers, producers, designers and planners. They would plan everything nut and bolt. They would plan the finish at the start and would know absolutely what that looked like. They would know all environments involved and the sensitivities needed to carefully navigate them. The welfare of everyone involved or affected would be studied in advance and remodeled, tweaked, improved. They would make sure everything was carefully and sensitively aligned with brand, and they would run through everything over and over to ensure nothing had been missed or couldn’t be improved upon. Then they would start.
Well…….when it comes to the rolling out of renewable energy in the Highlands and where all the infrastructure, wind farms, solar parks , Bess, Hydro and Hydrogen schemes will go, there is no master plan. There is no project director, project manager, producer, designer, overall architect or planner. There is no scale model that anybody can stand around to discuss the overall plan and see how it will affect who, what, where, when. No computer model, no drawing. There is no office. There is no desk.
Nobody knows when the last wind farm, BESS, Solar Park, hydrogen plant or pylon will be built. There is no “off switch”.
The only plan that those in power have, is to help the energy giants throw as much as possible at us and see what sticks. For energy corporations and developers this is heaven, a dream come true. Rather than making money for their shareholders, they can instead don halo’s and market it as saving the planet, net zero and meeting Government targets as their reason for doing what they’re doing.
There is one word that terrifies them all, Ministers and energy executives alike …..MORATORIUM!
We get the same story from all the energy companies that are queuing up to have a slice of Highlands action. We hear from them that we need their developments and infrastructure,if we are to meet Scottish Government targets, get to Net Zero and have energy security.These could be 2030, 2045, 2050 targets or, ones the Government were reported to have scrapped in April 2024. The UK government, OFGEM, The National Grid, UK Parliament and others all say similar and have figures and targets you can look at. When you start to look more closely at those targets, calculations, forecasts and figures, (please do) what becomes clear is nothing! It looks like they are all in a bit of a muddle. The information is so messy, unclear, changeable and varied, that it is no surprise that Government Ministers have and still are, making statements that don’t seem to add up mathematically, are incorrect, or contradict their own published information or previous statements. As is the politicians way, they do it with the conviction of a bluffer in a poker game……yet this is no game.
You can follow some of the Scottish Government energy statistics quarterly online. In the June 2024 figures you’ll see there were 75 new renewable energy projects under construction, an additional 445 with planning approved and 300 in planning. A Total of 830 potential projects already on the table. If you add the 75 in construction and the 445 approved to capacity we already have, it looks to the untrained eye that we’ve already got enough to hit the target they scrapped and, if the 300 in planning were approved, it appearsit could be overshot considerably.
They tell us the capacity for generation is constantly increasing, BUT at the same time there is a consistent and steady fall in energy consumption.
In January 2024 the then Energy Secretary Neil Gray, announced with pride that back in 2022, Scotland had already generated from renewable energy, the equivalent of 113% of itsoverall electricity consumption. For the first time Scotland had produced more than it had consumed. Again, in Q4 2022 Government statistics stated, “the amount of renewable electricity generated in Scotland in 2022 is the equivalent of powering all households in Scotland for around three and half years”. According to our Government we continue to generate more electricity than we need
But then other statements are made by Scottish Ministers such as:
“Scotland’s rich renewables resources means we can not only generate enough cheap, green electricity to power Scotland’s economy, we can also generate a surplus, and open up neweconomic opportunities for export”.
Rather than saving the planet, having energy security or trying to meet Net Zero, is that not black and white commercial gain? Would that mean they are happy to destroy our heritage, our nature, our world-famous landscapes, jobs and businesses that rely on tourism, to make money?
When you read online information and speak to representatives from the energy industry, it appears they are already ahead of us here. During a public consultation recently at Rosehall,a representative of an energy company had many of the issues and injustices facing us and our neighbours put to him. He calmly admitted and agreed that there were flaws in the system, that it wasn’t their fault. It was just business. The Government had set the playing field and regardless of whether it was wrong or not, they will continue to make hay while the sun shines. When asked if they would stop if Government targets were proved to be met, he replied that they had their own targets, separate from any Government ones’ andultimately, that’s what they would be focused on.
Could a couple of statements by a different, yet one of the biggest renewable energy companies operating in our region, SSE, suggest similar? In their annual report 2023 you find:
“Together as a group, SSE’s businesses are well positioned to capture the substantial growth opportunities generated, by driving and accelerating the Net Zero agenda through electricity infrastructure”
“We have always said our Net Zero Acceleration Programme (NZAP) represents the floor, not the ceiling, of our ambitions”.
In the same report the Chairs statement from Sir John Manzoni states that they have, “engaged constructively with Policymakers to ensure that we can continue to fulfil our purpose and generate value for our Shareholders and society more widely”
Does this mean they are influencing Policymaking for the benefit of their Shareholders first and foremost?
When SSEN first started talking about the 400kv giant pylon route they were planning to run through our landscapes, many of us remember being told the upgrade was needed to keep the lights on. When we said, “why carve your power through our landscapes, why not put it on the sea bed”? Did we not hear that it was problematic to do that, too costly and technically challenging? Some of our neighbours suggested that they wouldn’t put it under the sea because it was needed for the other energy projects and infrastructure that was going to be covering the Highlands. They asked SSEN if the giant pylons were actually needed for their own and other energy partners electricity projects and, planned business growth. A route to take their electricity product to market. A commercial venture that perhaps their Shareholders and their partners businesses would be the main beneficiaries. SSEN representatives deflected these questions and pointed the finger at Government, OFGEM, policies and targets.
It is wonderful to see so many groups and charities benefitting from handouts or community benefits, that have come from whichever energy developer has been generating power in their community. Many good things have come from these payments and that should not be forgotten.
These benefits surprisingly have still not been made mandatory by the Scottish Government and are still optional for developers, with recommended amounts being quite small. Surely, as we have the natural resources which all the developers want and have to live with their infrastructure, we should be dictating terms shouldn’t we? It seems not.
Some of our neighbours are receiving community benefit payments of between £200,000 and £500,000 per year. Is this a generous thank you that reflects how much the energy company is benefitting from a community partnership or are we actually paying it to ourselves?
You have to think.
Constraint payments are not paid to us but to energy companies when they turn the turbines or generators off.
On the National Energy System Operators (NESO) website, it describes them as payments made to energy generators….
“When there are physical constraints on the network (ie the network cannot physically transfer the power from one region to another), we ask generators to reduce their output to maintain system stability and manage the flows on the network. Generators are then compensated via a constraint payment. The alternative is building more infrastructure at a significant cost, meaning higher bills for consumers.”
Since 2010 these additional payments have cost consumers – US - in excess of £1Billion.
Some ask, why are they building more energy developments if they are turning the existing ones off, it seems senseless. Others, such as The Renewable Energy Foundation (REF) don’t think it should be allowed, as surely it is a foreseeable commercial risk and, as the developer goes in with their eyes open, they should not be compensated. Fact is, it has and does happen. The REF site it shows that in Scotland in 2023, these additional payments to wind farms alone amounted to more than £278,000,000, and in the current year Jan – Oct more than £256,000,000.
As consumers, we ultimately pay for these additional payments through our bills.
On the Scottish Government’s register of Community Benefits, it gives a total figure of just over £25,000,000 of benefit that was offered to communities in Scotland, for the 12 months preceding February 2024.
It may be a simplistic or naï ve way of looking at it but, if you had to pay someone £100 to NOT make something, and they gave you £10 back and called it a benefit, would you feel you were valued by them? And if they went around telling everyone and their dog how wonderful they were and what a benefit it was for you, would you feel blessed or angry?
On the REF site you can look at any of our wind farms in the UK and see the value of these additional payments received. Fortunately Independents and Charities like REF keep an eye on what is being charged; where they believe energy generators are charging more than they should, or even where they shouldn’t be charging at all, they share their findings with OFGEM and suggest they add it to their list of investigations. Some of the amounts overcharged are incredible, and history shows it is not unusual for the same companies to be found in breach of their licenses more than once.
If you search online you can find many examples of energy companies being found guilty of breaching their licensing conditions and overcharging, leading to higher costs for the consumer.
In 2023 a major energy company SSE who had already faced fines as far back as 2015, had its fine reduced from £11.58 million to £9.8 million as the company settled the investigation early. This was in connection with Foyers pumped storage power station at Loch Ness.
A year later in May 2024 the same energy company found another windfarm it was involved in, Beatrice, subject to a record £33million fine for breaching energy market rules.
When you look at the giant 400kv pylon line that SSEN is planning to march across our land. When you look at the initial £2MILLION community benefit they claim to be offering in their regional fund. When you compare that amount with the £2.4BILLION operating profit reported by SSE this year, you have to ask yourself, how much of that profit was created from projects in and around our communities, the Highlands and Islands? How much less would that profit be if they hadn’t been given permission to generate power in those areas? And you have to ask yourself, do their actions and the benefits handed out really show their gratitude, are they generous, or does it make you feel like you are being used or patronized? The Pylon line will make their shareholders bigger and bigger profits,and we are the ones who will be paying the cost for that. Although apparently it’s not about money, it’s about Net Zero, energy security and government targets!
We hear about jobs a great deal and although promised in huge numbers, most of the people we meet connected with the renewables industry seem to come from somewhere else.
On the Isle of Wight in England, they make turbine blades and it supports lots of jobs. The Government have already said that we are producing more power than we need. Why not have a moratorium on energy projects and developments to properly plan what is possibleand where? Ensure it is sensitively planned for our environment and communities. Why not at the same time, pour investment into home grown manufacturing connected to renewables? Production facilities could be set up all over Scotland where they would bebest suited or needed for the economy. They have been talking about the Green Freeport. Why not make it work? Produce rather than import. Produce tangible products that can be exported. Protect our valuable environment, landscapes and tourism and create jobs at the same time. Energy companies won’t like that because it will be Scotland benefitting rather than them. Wouldn’t that be like having your cake and eating it?
Energy companies are very effective at marketing. They have the money, big marketing teams, communication experts and directors. They are able to feed the press with information they want us to believe at targeted times. That is a natural part of corporate marketing and communication. Community benefits can be leveraged to provide very cheap advertising for them. If you get £300 from a benefit fund to send some local children for a day out, they may just want to get their message across in a double page spread. If you have a private business, try and get a double page spread for your business for that. Try and get as much free space in the press for your business as they do. You will not be able to. If you look a little deeper, you will be surprised at the messages that are shared online and in the media. There is an energy company- Ocean Winds- that has a promotional cartoon aimed at children where the sea creatures tell us that every time a new wind turbine is installed in the sea, they have a party! Take a look for yourself. Do you think this is right? It is called ‘Where does the light come from -The Heli story. https://youtu.be/Tl-hfu3U-_Q
Make your voice count
