Offshore plans make pylons redundant

The Scottish Government has railroaded through the Beauly-Denny power line (your report, 7 January) despite unparalleled levels of public protest against the development, with more than 18,000 written objections submitted. Friday saw the announcement that the Crown Estate was entering into partnerships with developers to deliver 32 gigawatts of offshore wind power, or approximately 25 per cent of the UK's electricity needs.

As intermittent wind power has to be balanced by an adequate supply of conventional power generation, surely 25 per cent offshore wind is more than enough wind generation for our needs, hence the land-based wind generation feeding into the Beauly-Denny line is now quite unnecessary and the whole project can be quickly and quietly put on the shelf.

In its place, can we put some serious investment instead into tidal and wave and link these developments with sub-sea cables to the other off-shore generation?

In any case, the onshore generated power from the Western Isles is to be brought all the way to Beauly before it can be sent down the giant new transmission line. And now the power from one of the latest onshore wind projects proudly announced by Jim Mather is also destined for the Beauly-Denny line, once it has travelled more than 100 miles from Thurso.

One wonders why this distant onshore power should not go directly sub-sea along with the offshore power. The brave new turbines announced for Moray will not use Beauly-Denny.

Pylon Pressure members took part in the public inquiry, prepared to accept that a Beauly-Denny line might be necessary, and argued reasonable mitigation. We also expected a reasoned and fair report and have been sharply disillusioned. The bogus "mitigation" is not even on the Beauly-Denny line.

It is clear there is no fairness in the Beauly-Denny decision. Now we very much doubt if there is any sense in the line itself.

R MacLEAN

Pylon Pressure

Culburnie

Kiltarlity,

Inverness-shire