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Farr

United Kingdom

Farr Wind Farm is around 8 miles south of the city of Inverness and has enough capacity to power 20% of the homes in the Highlands.


Installed Capacity

92MW

No. of turbines

40

Turbine type

Siemens SWT 2.3 (B82/2300)

Hub height

60m

Blade length

41m

Expected P50 energy yield

240.8GWh

Annual house-hold power equivalent

73,128 homes*

Application to extend the operational life of Farr Wind farm

What is the application?

An application has been submitted to The Energy Consents Unit to extend the operational life of Farr Wind Farm by ten years.

The application is purely to retain the existing wind farm and does not include any proposal for new site infrastructure. The number of turbines, their height and layout would remain the same as at present. The application is exclusively to extend the period of time over which the wind farm is permitted to operate.

The current planning consent will expire in December 2030. As a result of assessment work which has been undertaken in relation to Ventient Energy’s fleet of operational wind turbines and their ability to operate for longer than was originally envisaged, there is an opportunity for Farr Wind Farm to continue to generate clean electricity beyond the current consent expiry date.

What are the next steps?

The Energy Consents Unit will now undertake a consultation exercise in respect of the application before Scottish Ministers make a decision regarding the outcome of the application.

This webpage will be kept up to date with any new information about the application.

How can i find out more information?

Further information on the application can be obtained via The Energy Consents Unit website under the reference: ECU00002123.

The application documentation can also be downloaded here:

Application Covering Letter

Farr Wind Farm Life Extension – Application Covering Letter (590KiB – Adobe PDF)
Application Covering Letter – Appendix 1 (Original Section 36 consent) (2MiB – Adobe PDF)
Application Covering Letter – Appendix 2 (Site location and layout plan) (2.1MiB – Adobe PDF)
Application Covering Letter – Appendix 3 (Notice of application) (212KiB – Adobe PDF)

Farr report

Farr Wind Farm Life Extension – Environmental Report (2.4MiB – Adobe PDF)

Appendix 1

Statement on the Inspection, Servicing, Maintenance and Repair Programme for Farr Wind Farm, Ventient Energy July 2020. (140KiB – Adobe PDF)

Farr Site Layout (2.1MiB – Adobe PDF)

Farr Wind Farm File Note, Ecology and Ornithology Appraisal, April 2020 (587KiB – Adobe PDF)

Farr Wind Farm File Note, Landscape Appraisal, April 2020 (714KiB – Adobe PDF)

Farr Wind Farm File Note, Noise Appraisal, April 2020 (1.4MiB Adobe PDF)

Decision Notice for Farr Wind Farm (Ref: 02/00871/S36IN) (6.1MiB – Adobe PDF)

Farr Wind Farm Environmental Statement Volume 1: Non-Technical Summary (1.3MiB – Adobe PDF)

Farr Wind Farm Environmental Statement Volume 2: Written Statement (9.5MiB – Adobe PDF)

Farr Wind Farm Environmental Statement Volume 4: Technical Appendices (4MiB – Adobe PDF)

Appendix 2

Farr Wind Farm Life Extension Application – Pre-application response (SEPA),May 2020 (453KiB – Adobe PDF)

Farr Wind Farm Life Extension Application – Pre-application response (SNH), May 2020 (1MiB – Adobe PDF)

Farr Wind Farm Life Extension Application – Screening Opinion, July 2020 (364KiB – Adobe PDF)

Farr Wind Farm Life Extension Application – Consultation Leaflets Strathdearn, July 2020 (228-KiB – Adobe PDF)

Farr Wind Farm Life Extension Application – Consultation Leaflets Strathnairn, July 2020 (269-KiB – Adobe PDF)

Community Engagement

Farr Wind Farm Life Extension Application – Community Council Presentation, June 2020 (1.6-MiB – Adobe PDF)

Any questions can be e-mailed to the following address and feedback will be provided: WindFarms@ventientenergy.com


About Farr

Farr Wind Farm is around 8 miles south of the city of Inverness and has enough capacity to power 20% of the homes in the Highlands.

The wind farm is positioned on elevated ground on an extensive grouse moor with spectacular views of the north Highlands.

Construction began at the site in 2005 and took a year to complete. Farr’s 40 turbines are rated at 2.3MW and the site has an installed capacity of 92MW, generating enough energy to power 73,128 homes*.

Benefiting local communities

Farr is within the Strathnairn Community Council area and comprises a small resident population of less than 2000 people who are mainly centred on the village itself. The Strathnairn Community Benefit Fund is supported by Foundation Scotland who help with the fund’s administration.

To date, the Strathnairn Community Benefit Fund has supported a large number of local projects, including the provision of Public Access Automated Defibrillators positioned at the local village halls, church hall and a local inn. It also part funded the purchase of a new 9 seat community minibus with wheelchair access as well as helping with music classes for The Strathnairn Music Initiative.

Any questions relating to this wind farm should be directed to: windfarms@ventientenergy.com

*Based on the Installed Capacity x Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS) "all wind" load factor expressed as a fraction of 1^ x number of hours in a year (8,760 hours) / Average Annual Domestic Electricity Consumption (MWh)^^

^BEIS's long-term average load factor for "all wind" (31.84%) expressed as a fraction of 1 (0.3184). Source for capacity factors is Digest of United Kingdom Energy Statistics (DUKES) published annually by BEIS.

^^Annual GB Average Domestic Consumption Values from BEIS (3,509kWh).

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