Wind energy scheme 'could earn £1bn a year for rural communities'

A SCOTTISH Government committee is considering a recommendation to ministers for an ambitious wind energy initiative, which could generate an annual income of more than £1 billion to rural communities in Scotland – twice the income from farming.

The Community Renewable Implementation Group (Crig) is giving serious consideration to proposals put forward by the Aberdeenshire farmer and entrepreneur Maitland Mackie for the creation of a 10 million rolling fund to help rural areas benefit directly from the huge profits of wind energy.

Mackie, the chairman of Mackie's, the ice-cream maker, was invited to join the group six months ago by First Minister Alex Salmond. He says urgency is of the essence before the best wind energy sites are scooped up by multinational energy companies for peppercorn rents.

Mackie says: "Time is not on our side, as the development rights of more and more suitable sites are being signed off for a pittance to developers by farmers and landowners who fear the planning risks and start-up costs."

He wants grants made available to help local initiatives secure advice and get through the "tortuous" planning process.

Grants paid to groups securing planning permission would be refundable to create a self-financing rolling fund to kick-start future projects.

The initiative has got the backing of all the main organisations with an interest in land use in Scotland.

"I am delighted that Crig is giving the proposal real support and amazed that all the organisations representing the land-based industries in Scotland are 100 per cent behind it," says Mackie.

More than a year ago, Mackie aborted plans to set up a national company, Wingen, to develop wind energy from the "top down" but now believes in a "bottom up" approach, based on local community support and investment.

"Wind turbines are much more acceptable if ownership is local and widely spread," he says. Three wind turbines provide electricity for the Mackie family farm and ice-cream factory at Westertown, Rothienorman, with the surplus of 60 per cent being sold to the grid.

Mackie says large-scale land-based wind turbines are by far the most cost-effective way of generating renewable energy, representing a capital cost of only 3,600 per kW compared with 8,000 per kW for offshore turbines and 25,000 per kW for small scale turbines generating only 5kW of electricity.

He calculates that a 3MW turbine at a capital cost of 3.6 million will produce an annual income of 437,600 after running costs, giving an 18.2 per cent return on capital.

Mackie says start-up finance could see 3,000 locally owned turbines erected over the next 12 years, generating three GW of electricity a year (half of Scotland's electricity requirement) and contributing more than 1bn a year to the rural economy.