Fintry's green revolution means power to the people

In much of Scotland, the surge of wind-farm applications has sparked furious protests over the "industrialisation" of the countryside, while supporters insist such sources of renewable energy are a crucial part of the fight against global warming.

The controversial Lewis Wind Power project and the Beauly-Denny power line upgrade have split environmentalists. Meanwhile, debate has raged over what kind of renewable energy Scotland should have, and how much it can truly expect to harness.

Amid the uproar, the blades of a turbine near Fintry, Stirlingshire, started turning just before Christmas, and the first installment of this "windfall" will follow shortly.

For the people there saw a proposed wind farm not as a threat, but as an opportunity – not only to make money but also to help fund an environmental revolution in the village.

They are now spreading the word, telling other communities how they can do the same. So far, St Andrews, Neilston, in Renfrewshire, and Biggar, in Lanarkshire, have been in touch.

At current prices, the people of Fintry would be expected to make about 900,000 over the first 15 years while they pay off the cost of the 115-metre turbine, then roughly 4 million during the next ten years. The expected lifespan of a turbine is 25 years.

Gordon Cowtan, 44, one of the organisers of the project, said: "Without blowing our own trumpet too much, I think this will set the agenda for the village for the next 15 to 20 years.

"That amount of money coming into a place the size of Fintry will have a huge effect on it.

"It's absolutely the village's money, and it is up to the village to decide what to do with that."

In Fintry, there is talk of using the money to convert the sports hall from expensive, oil-fired heating to an environmentally friendly, ground-source heat pump.

Fitting insulation, double glazing and solar panels to homes in the village are other options, while, in the future, the money could even be used to pay for hydrogen-fuelled buses to take people to Stirling and Glasgow.

"The money is significant, but the wind turbine almost becomes totemic in that it is a renewable energy resource helping the village cut its energy consumption as well," Mr Cowtan said.

If other areas adopted the Fintry method, it could also "take some of the heat out of the whole wind-farm thing", he said.

"I think, for a lot of communities, having a wind-farm proposed on their doorstep is the biggest challenge they will have faced for 100 years or so," he said. "You get a very polarised, antagonistic situation, where you have got the developer trying to get something through with the local community feeling stomped upon by big business."

In Fintry's case, the turbine was paid for by Falck Renewables, the developer of a wind farm at Earlsburn. The village will pay it off at an agreed rate of interest, using the income from the electricity it produces. Mr Cowtan said: "I think there is a realisation in the industry, to some extent, that they need to take communities with them on projects they are doing.

"We had this approach of having an additional turbine, which would be the community turbine. They (the developer] get good publicity and, in general, hope it will help them when they come to go through the planning process.

"What we're trying to do is to encourage other communities to engage with renewable energy developments on their doorstep. There is a particular Fintry model we have got; it doesn't necessarily have to be exactly the same. But if a development is going to happen on your doorstep, it is appropriate that the community gets as much out of it as possible."

He said the money could become increasingly important in years to come for a rural village such as Fintry.

"There's very little in the way of public transport, but most people commute into Glasgow and Stirling," Mr Cowtan said.

"The price of diesel is about 1.10 a litre. What happens when that's 2 a litre? How does a rural community like Fintry survive? How is it sustainable when we have got that sort of energy price?

Having a reliable income stream makes it more feasible for a rural community to address that in some way."

Asked about the idea of running hydrogen-powered mini-buses to Stirling and Glasgow, he said: "Possibly. But it's early days so far. We haven't really got definite plans in that area."

Charles Williams, of Falck Renewables, described the deal as a "win, win" situation.

He said: "We were developing a wind farm and it turned out they were separately looking at developing a wind farm in much the same location.

"We have kind of assisted them in getting planning permission for an additional 15th turbine, next to our 14 turbines.

"We agreed the sensible thing to do was for us to build, own and operate their turbine as part of our wind farm, so that's what we've done. We operate the 15th turbine effectively for the benefit of the people in Fintry."

Mr Williams stressed the income from the turbine would depend on what happened to electricity prices but said it was expected to make a profit.

"No-one knows what's going to happen to the electricity price. They are variable and electricity prices have collapsed in the past. But it is a reasonably safe bet," he said.

"The risk is in the development phase. There are projects that don't get planning permission. You can put half a million to a million pounds at risk in developing a project.

"The economics of a wind project are principally driven by windspeed. Windspeeds in Scotland, providing you find the right location, are generally pretty high.

"There are a lot of projects in England where the wind is significantly lower – the economics are more marginal and there's a lot of uncertainty about whether the project will be profitable."

He questioned whether other places would be as organised as Fintry. "They just happened to be already thinking about developing their own turbine," he said.

"They had the get-up-and-go to come up with the idea and develop their own turbine – not every community is going to have individuals like that who want to do it."

On the economics of wind farms, Andrew Perkins, a director at accountant Ernst & Young, said: "Prices tend to go both ways, don't they?"

But he added: "Fundamentally, wind farms are a very good thing to invest in – pension funds are investing in them."

He said the economics of the Fintry deal would depend on the rate of interest paid.

Jason Ormiston, of the industry body Scottish Renewables, thought the idea could catch on. "The Fintry model is one that's really interesting and I wouldn't be surprised if it was emulated elsewhere," he said.

"It's true to say the better the engagement with the community (by the developer], the more supportive the community is of the development. I think the wind industry has a good record on this – often people complaining about wind projects are in a minority in a community, but they shout very loudly."

After the turbine is paid off, there will be a step change in the amount of money coming into the village, but Mr Cowtan said the people of Fintry would maintain their green credentials rather than give in to excess.

Asked if the whole village would head off to Barbados on holiday, he joked: "Only on a carbon neutral ferry."

Green dividend could change a village's life

THE cost of buying and installing a wind turbine might seem daunting to many. At about 2.5 million, it will take Fintry 15 years to pay off.

But even during that time the Fintry Development Trust expects to receive between 50,000 and 70,000 a year from the turbine on the nearby Earlsburn wind farm.

The electricity it produces will go into the National Grid to be bought by power companies as will the power from the 14 other turbines on the site.

The total generating capacity of the wind farm is 37.5 megawatts, enough to power about 25,000 homes, equal to half of all the houses in the Stirling Council area.

Fintry's turbine, which has a capacity of 2.5 megawatts, should generate enough for more than 1,600 houses, several times the number in the village.

But after the repayment period is over, the village will receive what should be a life-changing amount of money.

It would get about 400,000 a year at today's prices.

Fintry Development Trust, a charity, was set up to decide how to spend the money and it has about 150 members.

A trading company, Fintry Renewable Energy Enterprise (Free), was also created and it will pay all its profits to the charitable trust.

The trust's aim is to "promote the use of renewable energy and energy efficiency in the community to reduce carbon dioxide emissions and the effects of global warming".

For example, expensive oil-fired heating systems could be replaced with solar panels, micro-turbines and/or ground- source heat pumps.

It could also be used to insulate homes or fit double glazing.

The trust's committee is considering what the money will be spent on and options will be put to its members no later than October.

Renewable energy does not receive a government subsidy, but it is considered a good investment largely because of the "renewable obligation", set up by the government and requiring power companies to buy a certain amount of electricity from renewable generators.

If they fail to do so, they can buy renewable obligation certificates (Rocs), which are given to renewable power generators depending on how much they produce, or pay a penalty "buyout" fee, which is then distributed to green generators.

The renewable obligation started at 3 per cent in 2003 but is being increased gradually to 15.4 per cent by 2015.

The system effectively means the price of renewable electricity is 50 to 100 per cent higher than the wholesale market price. The cost to customers is limited by a price cap and the renewable obligation is guaranteed by law until 2027.

The value of the Roc system to renewable generators will fall as the amount of green electricity available in the UK increases.

Make sure community benefits

A COMMUNITY seeking to follow the Fintry model should first find out whether a developer is planning to build a wind farm nearby.

An approach to the company could then be made to put the suggestion that the community benefit, which could be delivered at least in part by building an extra turbine for local people.

It would be important to check windspeed readings from anemometers on the site, which the company will have set up as part of its preparation work to assess how much electricity will be produced and, therefore, how much money will be made.

Negotiations between the people of Fintry and the developer of the nearby wind farm resulted in an agreement that the company would pay the 2.5 million upfront cost of the turbine and install it on behalf of the community. This will be paid back over the next 15 years at an agreed rate of interest.

It would be advisable to take financial advice over the rate of interest and the repayment period to ensure these were within reasonable parameters.

It may be helpful in talks with the company to suggest that this kind of scheme could help persuade the local council to grant planning permission.

If the project gets the go-ahead, the community would set up a trading company to deal with profits from the turbine.

The trading company would hand over all of its profits to a charitable trust that would be created to decide how to spend the money.

This is similar to the way charity shops run by the likes of Oxfam operate.

Local people would be encouraged to become members of the charitable trust which would have its day-to-day affairs run by a committee.

It would also come up with proposals on what to do with the money, but trust members would ultimately have the final say. A decision would also need to be made on what area would be covered by the charitable trust, who would be eligible for funds.