Novar Wind Farm sits in a picturesque Highland location approximately 5.5 miles west of Alness.
Installed Capacity
17MW
No. of turbines
34
Turbine type
Bonus (Seimens)
Hub height
42m
Blade length
19m
Expected P50 energy yield
42.4GWh
Annual house-hold power equivalent
13,513 homes*
From its elevated position on an extensive Easter Ross shooting estate it enjoys commanding views of the Cromarty Firth and Ben Wyvis.
As well as being steeped in the history of Scotland’s Highland clans, the area is well known for its contribution to Highland employment with a number of light and heavy industries based locally. The yards at Invergordon and Nigg play a significant role in offshore development in the oil and gas sectors and, more recently, have been heavily involved in fabrication for renewables including offshore wind farms.
The wind farm was originally built by nPower in 1997 before being transferred to Beaufort, then Infinis and now Ventient Energy. Its 34 turbines are rated at 500kW and the site has an installed capacity of 17MW, generating enough energy to power 13,513 homes*.
Benefiting local communities
When Novar wind farm was built, the communities of Kiltearn, Ardross and Alness were identified as having the most strategic interest in its community fund which is administered by Highland Council.
The focus of the fund is projects centred around education and environmental issues and it has also been used to help alleviate fuel poverty in the area. Projects have included the purchase of books and toys for the local nursery, the provision of excursions for the local primary school and the hiring of equipment for the local hall.
Application to extend the operational life of Novar Wind Farm
An application was submitted to The Highland Council in December 2019 to extend the operational life of the wind farm to August 2031.
What was the application?
The application was a formal request to obtain permission to extend the operational life of the wind farm. The application was purely to retain the existing wind farm and did not include any proposal for new site infrastructure.
Novar has successfully generated clean electricity since 1997. A comprehensive range of assessments has proved the technical capability of the wind farm to operate safely and efficiently throughout the proposed extended period.
what is the current status of the application?
The application was approved in April 2020. Ventient Energy Ltd remains committed to engaging with the local community and would encourage anyone with questions about the wind farm to contact us at: WindFarms@ventientenergy.com
During the application process, we hosted an informative event, The Novar Wind Farm Update, to inform local communities and other interested parties about the application and our future plans for the Novar Wind Farm.
We would like to thank everyone who attended the event on the 16th of January.
The event was a great opportunity to discuss the future of Novar, explain the life extension application and what it meant for the local community.
Thanks again to the venue and all attendees for the friendly environment and open conversation.
The presentation from this event can be downloaded here: Novar Wind Farm Presentation (1.89MiB)
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).
