Oliver Forest Wind Farm is located in the Scottish Borders north west of the A701 between Tweedsmuir and Glenbreck, approximately 12.5km south of Broughton and approximately 19 km north of Moffat. 

To keep up to date throughout the project's development, please register for updates and feel free to Get in touch.

The current layout that we are proposing, and that was submitting to Scoping, is up to 10 turbines.

We are proposing a turbine height of up to 250m to blade tip.

The size and locations of the turbines are not fixed yet, further studies and consultation over the development period will help confirm the final layout and the turbine height at each location. 

Our proposed tip heights are similar in size to the consented Priestgill Wind Farm (variation) near Abington - approximately 10.5 km west of the site, 7 turbines with a height to blade tip between 180m and 200m and similar to the proposed 21 turbine Grayside Wind Farm, with tip heights of up to 200 m currently being considered.  The closest proposed turbines of Greyside Wind Farm are approximately 2km north-west of the site which extends to the north and north-east of the Clyde Extension Wind farm nearby. 

The nearest operational wind farms to our proposal are Clyde Wind Farm and Extension, near Abington, with a total of 206 turbines with height to blade tip between 125m and 142m and Glenkerie Wind Farm, near Biggar, with 11 turbines with a maximum height to blade tip between 100m and 118m.

As we develop the wind farm we are mindful to develop a scheme that fits within the landscape and existing developments.  As our plans develop, we will share how the proposal will look from agreed viewpoints.  

There is less than 10% of the land area in Scotland which is suitable for wind farm development. We need to maximise those sites to boost renewable energy generation and contribute to Scotland’s net-zero commitments.  In 2020 the UK's electricity generation had an energy mix of 43% with onshore wind contributing 21% compared to the 41% generated from gas and coal plants together.   

Onshore wind is part of a wider mix of energy generation with National Grid ESO using the most cost-effective mix of generation to balance supply and demand to make sure electricity is always there when people need it. 

Oliver Forest is expected to generate the equivalent household consumption of just over 74,000 homes*.  As onshore wind is the lowest cost renewable energy deployment this is good news for bill payers.

* 74,000 homes based on 66MW Installed Capacity, wind resource assessment and average Scottish domestic consumption of 3,520kWh pa (BEIS Dec. 2021).  Candidate turbine still tbc'd.

Should the proposal be submitted to planning, the application will also seek consent for the necessary infrastructure and other requirements for the project. This will include, tracks, a substation, laydown areas, construction compounds, energy storage systems (if required), site entrance, met mast and other ancillary infrastructure.  

Full details will be made available in the Environmental Impact Assessment Report which is submitted along with any Application for planning.

Statkraft are at the forefront of battery and grid stability projects, which are increasingly vital as the amount of renewable energy generation in the UK increases. 

Statkraft are assessing the potential for storage at this site, which could be included in the wind farm planning application, or progressed via a separate application.

We area assessing  a number of grid options to facilitate a grid connection for Oliver Forest, which is not yet determined.  The grid connection would be the responsibility of ScottishPower Energy Networks (SPEN) and would be subject to a separate consenting process by them.

Statkraft is at the heart of the UK's energy transition.  Since 2006, Statkraft has gone from strength to strength in the UK, building experience across wind, solar, hydro, storage, grid stability and EV charging.  Statkraft is a global company in energy market operations, with approximately 5000 employees in 20 countries, 300 of which are located in offices across the UK. 

Statkraft has operated in the UK since 2006, developing, owning and operating renewable production facilities including wind farms in Scotland and Wales.  Our Scottish headquarters are based in Glasgow. 

Oliver Forest is the first development project for Statkraft within Scottish Borders Council Area. We currently are developing West Andershaw in the neighbouring council area of South Lanarkshire, and Appin in Dumfries and Galloway Council area.  

In addition to developing these projects, we operate Andershaw in South Lanarkshire and Twentyshilling Hill, near Sanquhar and Wind Rig near Carsphairn in Dumfries and Galloway.  

If the project is consented, the construction date will be determined by the grid connection date. We would expect construction to commence approximately 18 – 24 months ahead of the connection date.

The proposed Port of Entry (POE) is King George V docks in Glasgow.  This route has been used previously for previous wind farm deliveries like Clyde and Clyde extension wind Farm.

The studies of potential transport routes from the M74 are still to be carried out to determine the access route to site.  We will have more details about this at the second exhibition.  

We are currently in discussions with Scottish Borders Council, South Lanarkshire Council, Dumfries and Galloway Council and NatureScot to agree the viewpoints for the project.  Once they are agreed a full set of visualisaitons for the project will be available to view as part of the application submitted to the Scottish Government.  

We have produced six visualisations as part of this exhibition to give local residents an indication of how the proposal may look like in the local area.  See the predicted views booklet. 

At the exhibition we will also have a computer based model to illustrate what the wind farm could look like in the local area as from all the proposed viewpoints.  

We have carried out peat probing to understand the extent of peat on site.  The site is characterised by suitable ground conditions with some areas of shallow peat. The aim of the final design will be to minimise any impact on peat, as far as possible. 

Extensive surveys are being completed across the site, including for habitats, birds, mammals and fish.  There are no national ecological or ornithological destinations within the site.

Biodiversity enhancement measures are being considered and will be outlined in the EIA Report. 

The Proposed Development is on a site of commercial forestry.  Where additional felling is required to accommodate the wind farm, we will seek to minimise the loss of woodland area in accordance with the Scottish Government's Control of Woodland Removal Policy (Forestry Commission Scotland, 2009).

A range of assessments will be undertaken to assess the potential impact of the development.  This will include, for example noise. A noise assessment will be undertaken in line with industry good practice guidance ETSU-R-97.  Consultation with Scottish Borders Council Environmental Health Officer is currently underway to agree the approach to the assessment.

We are at the very early stages of the project.  This is our first public exhibition to gather the views of the wider community.  Feedback from the community and consultees will help shape the design of the project. 

Community engagement is very important to us and when the project was first introduced, December 2022, we wrote to the host and surrounding community councils and local Councillors to introduce the project and gather their initial views.  We offered the opportunity to meet with these key stakeholders were pleased to meet with Tweedsmuir Community Council at the beginning of the year.   

At the start of the exhibition period we have written to all households surrounding the project with information about the project and including a feedback form to gather their views.  We will write back to everyone who submits a feedback form to answer their queries (if they have provided us permission to do so). 

We will host a second exhibition before the project is submitted outlining how the project may have changed and the reasons why i.e.  based on further studies and community feedback. 

The closer the Development gets towards Public Exhibitions or planning submission it may mean that there isn't sufficient time to consider your comments before the plans are finalised. We therefore encourage you to provide your feedback early. 

We hope to submit a Section 36 application (to the Scottish Government) in 2023. There is an opportunity to provide a formal representation to the Scottish Government - we will keep our project website updated with news on how to do this. 

Following the exhibition, we will evaluate all feedback and will use it to help refine our proposal.  

We can still answer questions and receive feedback after the exhibition period and where we can we will do our best to incorporate it.  However, the closer the Development gets towards the next Public Exhibition or planning submission it may mean that there isn't sufficient time to consider your comments before the plans are finalised. We therefore encourage you to provide your feedback early.

We hope to submit a Section 36 application (to the Scottish Government) in 2023. There is an opportunity to provide a formal representation to the Scottish Government - we will keep our project website updated with news on how to do this.

If interested, whether a local resident or a business, you can register for updates on the Get in touch page and we will contact you as we progress the plans.  We follow all GDPR guidelines in relation to personal data and you can opt out at any time.

Yes. Statkraft are committed to delivering community benefit fund for Oliver Forest Wind Farm of £5,000 per MW installed per annum in line with Scottish Government Good Practice Principles, should the project be consented.

We are not prescriptive in how community benefit funds are set up and administered and look forward to working with communities to create a community benefit fund that delivers meaningful benefits to communities surrounding the development.  

We will follow the Good Practice Principles for Community Benefits and have no strong preference how a fund is administered - we want the community to help decide how best a fund is administered for the local area.   

We would like to hear the views of the community on all aspects of how a fund can bring meaningful benefits locally.  Please fill in the feedback form if you would like to share your ideas regarding initiatives for community benefit funding. 

The biggest opportunity to bring local jobs is during the construction phase. 

Statkraft always endeavours to be a good neighbour and when bringing new investment to the community, we look at how we can share the economic value of our projects. As such, we will look to develop links with local business groups such as the  Chamber of Commerce to understand the mutual benefits of using local suppliers. We are keen to work with local suppliers. Please fill in the Local suppliers registration form if you are a local company interested in being a supplier, or if you would like to suggest a company we could contact.

We would like to hear your ideas as to how our project can foster links with local businesses.

We are committed to offering shared ownership for the Oliver Forest wind farm project and are happy to follow this up should there be interest within the community to explore this further.

We work with Local Energy Scotland to explore community ownership opportunities and we can arrange separate meetings with them if there is interest.