Exclusive:Scottish public need to 'catch up' as Scotland required to double onshore wind in five years, industry says

There is an ongoing ‘disconnect’ between what people think is going on with energy developments and where they will be in the next ten years with the increase in demand, the sector warned.

Onshore wind farms are going to have to increase by at least double, energy bosses have said | Maritxu22 - stock.adobe.com

Scotland’s onshore wind developments will need to double in capacity in the next five years as pressure mounts on grid upgrade works to be consented, energy leaders have said.

The minimum target north of the Border for onshore wind is currently 20GW of power by 2030.

It would mean needing to double the current total installed capacity of 10.1W to date in the next five years.

Colin Innes, a partner at Shepherd and Wedderburn, and who specialises in renewables, said the significant step up comes after a lull in development since the Conservative government effectively banned onshore wind in 2015.

Colin Innes, a partner at Shepherd and Wedderburn | Shepherd and Wedderburn

Speaking to The Scotsman, Mr Innes said: “What needs to happen is building and building quickly to maximise the economic benefit for Scotland and catch up on the missed years we lost when there was a limited number of turbines built comparatively.

“The ‘switch off’ caused a blip in terms of deployment for a period of five or six years.”

The calls come as Scottish Conservatives described the current net zero agenda as “unrealistic and unaffordable” with the Scottish Government having “missed their eco targets for years.”

Mr Innes said a challenge the sector faces is an ongoing “disconnect between what the public thinks is going on and where energy developments are going to be in a decade with how much electrification is needed to meet demand.”

The Climate Change Committee (CCC) says by 2040, 80 per cent of cars should be electric and one in two homes have a heat pump as part of the nation’s “decarbonising” plan.

About 60,000 UK homes installed a heat pump in 2023, according to the CCC, a figure it wants to see climb to 450,000 by 2030 and 1.5 million by 2035.

Mr Innes said: “People think we are trying to sort out electricity as it is now.

“But the reality is doubling the demand changes the system, changes the dynamic.

“All infrastructure needs to be a different scale.”

Mr Innes said the onshore sector is “buoyant” with “a wide range of developers in the Scottish market coming through and a lot are getting consented.”

Industry leaders said a recognised issue with this growth in renewable developments is a higher concentrations of turbines in “intermediate areas” - not on the edge of towns or in protected areas - will be felt in years to come. This is due to restrictions to onshore wind turbines in areas including National Parks and National Scenic Areas, which, collectively, takes up about 20 per cent of the land in Scotland.

Dalnacardoch Estate is one estate in the Cairngorms National Park. The Scottish Government’s NPF4 policy sets out that development proposals for wind farms in National Parks and National Scenic Areas will not be supported.

Limited delivery in England due to lower wind resource, protected uplands and solar energy competitors also drives more development in what the industry has labelled as “hotspot areas” in Scotland. These include Caithness, Dumfries and Galloway, East Ayrshire and Argyll and Bute.

Some of England’s upland areas are restricted when it comes to wind farm developments due to them being in national parks | Supplied

Dumfries and Galloway has been named as some of the hotspots for more wind farm developments in the energy sector | Katharine Hay

For the communities taking the brunt, Mr Innes said “the community benefit fund has to move beyond the village hall.”

He said the communication on the “wider benefit” of onshore developments when it comes to business rates also needs to be improved.

“The way we do business rates absolutely disassociates the benefits from onshore wind farms because it goes into a central pot and it’s reallocated which means it gets lost,” Mr Innes added.

“In Scotland terms, the more generation we have the more business rates we have, the more money for public services and communities, but it gets lost because of the way we do that which is regrettable.”

While renewable energy applications are flying in, including a noticeable increase in anaerobic digesters and applications and increased government funding for “green” hydrogen plants, the grid infrastructure, which is currently being upgraded to transmit this upsurge in electricity, is facing delays.

Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN) Transmission is investing £22 billion in grid infrastructure over a five-year period from April 2026 to March 2031 to replace old lines and build “super highways” to transfer power from developments in the north of Scotland to where energy is needed.

Alison Hall, director of project development at SSEN | SSEN

Alison Hall, director of project development at SSEN, said the company is on track with submitting plans for the grid upgrade, but it needs consenting bodies to act.

The company has previously criticised the Scottish consenting system after it took four and a half years for the Beauly to Denny upgrade, a development that sparked a fierce backlash from the surrounding communities.

Ms Hall said the current project to reinforce the network from Fort Augustus to Skye — the only power line serving all homes and businesses along its route and in the Western Isles - is showing serious delays.

“Two and a half years in planning and we’re still waiting for that consent to be determined by the energy consent unit and the Scottish ministers,” she said.

“We’re looking at replacing a line that’s already there. It’s not a new build.

“It’s difficult to understand why it’s taken so long.

“The overhead line route is very old. It’s had ten major faults in just six years, far more than we would expect on a transmission network, so that line needs to be replaced.”

Ms Hall said three new build overhead line schemes are to be submitted to the Energy Consents Unit in the coming months, adding: “Once submitted we require the consenting bodies to act to maintain momentum for 2030.”

Some of the pylon developments have drawn serious controversy from various communities across Scotland, including Aberdeenshire, where a new pylon line is proposed with some of the steel towers possibly reaching as high as 246ft (75m) and will be part of a planned 66-mile (106km) route between the town of Kintore and the village of Tealing.

Earlier this year, the UK Government committed to ensuring households near new or upgraded pylons will save up to £250 a year for 10 years to be introduced through the Planning and Infrastructure Bill.

In response to delays in consenting SSEN projects, the Scottish Government pointed to its guidance outlining the procedure to determine priority applications to install overhead line transmission infrastructure, under section 37 of the Electricity Act 1989, is within 52 weeks.

A spokesperson added: “In addition, the UK Government has recently introduced legislative reforms to the consenting process for large electricity projects in Scotland through the Planning and Infrastructure Bill. If passed, these long awaited reforms will modernise the determination process and allow Scottish Ministers to set time limits, providing clarity and certainty for all parties to help prevent unnecessary delays.”