Villagers lose out on power firm windfall

Opinion remains divided over whether windfarms have any place at all in the Scottish countryside. But one thing is certain: the massed ranks of turbines have the potential to make huge profits for developers.

It was to make sure people living in their shadow receive an adequate share of the dividends that “good practice principles” were introduced.

In 2013, the Scottish Government decided that meant at least £5,000 for every megawatt of power generated.

Groups across the north and north-east have put the funds generated by the scheme to great use.

So it is no surprise that villagers near one of the next windfarms to be built are unimpressed to be offered grants worth significantly less than half the recommended minimum, not least when they are charged more than almost anyone else in the UK for the power supplied to their own homes.

The developer of the Dorenell project near Dufftown is able to claim immunity from the guidelines on something of a technicality – in part because of the lengthy legal battle it had to fight to overcome local objections.

But given the scale of the expected returns, and the potential improvements that £16million could make, it is only right that bosses be asked to look again at whether they should now meet the “principles” in full.

“Only right that bosses be asked to look again at whether they should meet ‘principles’ in full”