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 4800 employees in 19 countries. 

Across our UK business we employ over 300 staff in England, Scotland and Wales and play a key role in helping the global business reach its goal of 9 GW of development wind and solar power by 2025. 

Statkraft recently completed the construction of Twentyshilling Hill Wind Farm, near Sanquhar and of Windy Rig Wind Farm near Carsphairn, both in Dumfries and Galloway.  The wind farms are now owned by Greencoat, but we maintain our connection to the area by being the operations and maintenance service provider for both wind farms.  

We also have one project in development Artfield Forest, near Newton Stewart.  You can find out more about these projects on our website. 

We are currently proposing a development of up to 17 turbines for Appin Wind Farm which we are presenting at our first exhibition. 

Since we submitted our Scoping Request to the Scottish Government in March 2022 to consider the potential for up to 25 turbines, we have refined the site following further studies and initial feedback. 

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, site entrance, tracks, a substation, laydown areas, construction compounds and other ancillary infrastructure such as energy storage systems, if required.   

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. 

Did you know that less than 10% of the land area in Scotland 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. Onshore wind contributed to the UK’s 2020 electricity generation as energy produced by renewables made up 42% of the UK’s electricity last year compared with 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. 

Our proposed Appin Wind Farm is located within an area of predicted good wind speeds, no nationally or internationally designated sites are within the site boundary and wind farm development is compatible with the current land use, commercial forestry.  Therefore, we believe this is an excellent site to contribute to Scotland’s ambitions of reaching net zero emissions by 2045.  

The wind farm is likely to be operational for up to 50 years. After this time, the wind farm will either be decommissioned, have its life extended or re-powered.  A bond is put in place before construction starts and that bond is used to finance the decommissioning of the project at the end of its lifetime. 

The construction and turbine delivery route for Appin are still being investigated. We understand the concerns the community have about the use of the Shinnel Glen Road in relation to construction traffic for the project.  We can confirm, should the project be consented, that the Shinnel Glen Road will not be used for construction traffic or abnormal loads transport.   

As part of the planning submission we prepare an Environmental Impact Assessment Report.  The report includes an assessment on the Traffic and Transport associated with the wind farm development.  Should the development be consented it is likely to be subject to a planning condition for a Traffic Management Plan.  

As part of the planning submission we prepare an Environmental Impact Assessment Report which assesses the potential impact the development may have on a range of environmental factors, i.e. birds, wildlife and peat. 

As part of the development process we have been carrying out a range of environmental studies, including peat probing, ornithological surveys, landscape and visual assessments, the scope of which were informed by and agreed with Statutory Consultees, such as any potential impacts of any environmental impact that the site may have, are identified and assessed in line with industry best practice standards. The studies will also help inform the design of the wind farm to reduce or mitigate, where possible, the effects of the wind farm e.g. implement appropriate separation buffers, siting of turbines etc. 

Noise baseline surveys are currently being undertaken to consider the potential effects on nearby residential properties associated with both the construction and operation of the wind farm. 

The noise assessment carried out for Appin will also take into account other wind farms in the area, consented or currently in planning. 

The Appin wind farm proposal is located 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), namely through compensatory planting. 

We are keen to make sure as many local people know about the exhibitions and have an opportunity to provide their feedback on our proposal.  We have sent an invitation to attend our online and in-person exhibitions to over 900 households within c.10km of the site.  The invite included a freepost reply card and an 0800 phone number for those who are unable to participate online or in-person. 

The event has also been advertised in the local newspapers, Dumfries & Galloway Standard and the Galloway News.  An online advert was also placed on the local news website www.InYourArea.co.uk . 

To raise awareness of the exhibitions we have also written to local community councils and elected representatives to invite them to the exhibitions and encourage them to place the notice on their social media channels, i.e. facebook pages.  

We are pleased to be able to be back out in the community and will be hosting two local exhibitions, on the 7 September between 2pm – 7pm at Glencairn Memorial Institute in Moniaive, and on the 8 September between 2pm -7pm at  Tynron Parish Hall, Tynron.  

We look forward to meeting members of the local community at these events and hearing their views.  We will evaluate all feedback and will use it to help refine our proposal.   

In the meantime the main project  website will be kept up to date with the latest project information and news. 

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. 

We will hold another exhibition, expected during the Winter, before we submit our proposal to the Scottish Government in 2023.  

We encourage members of the community to provide feedback on our proposals throughout the development period.  The earlier we received your feedback the more opportunity there is for it to be incorporated, where possible, into the wind farm proposal. You can feedback on the proposal presented at this exhibition until 17 October.   

When the Section 36 application (to the Scottish Government) is submitted there will be 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. 

This consultation website is temporary and is available until 19 September.  We will keep the main Appin Wind Farm project website updated with the latest news and milestones for the project and you can provide feedback through this page throughout the lifetime of the project.  

We are committed to setting up a Community Benefit Fund for Appin of £5000 per MW installed per year.  This is inline with Scottish Government Best Practice.  

Statkraft are not prescriptive on the use of their funds.  Please let us know how you would like to see the fund used to meet your local areas needs and priorities by filling in our feedback form. 

We are committed to offering shared ownership for the Appin 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. 

Yes. We have a 'Local suppliers' registration link on the website, please get in touch if you are a local business and interested in the project.  We are Members of the Dumfries and Galloway Chamber of Commerce and we plan to organise 'Meet the Developer' events for businesses in the future to facilitate working with the local supply chain.   

We are often asked by people if we can help deliver faster broadband, or even get them connected in the first place.  

We need high quality broadband to operate our wind farms, including for Appin Wind Farm, if it is given the go ahead.  As we require broadband, we have committed to explore whether it can also help benefit the local and wider community as well.  We believe we are the only developer to commit to funding a feasibility study to look into the potential for fibre and wireless line of sight broadband for the local communities, for all our new wind farm projects.