Green energy firms Infinergy and Boralex have announced plans to extend the 21-turbine wind farm at Limekiln (close to 90 MW), south of Reay in Caithness. The extension proposals are to the east of the current wind farm project within Broubster Achaveilan North forest and will increase the installed capacity by about 20 MW.
Nick Sage, Project Director for Limekiln said: “We are excited that this additional area of land adjacent to Limeklin Wind Farm is now available to scope out plans for an extension to the consented site. It’s an ideal location to add further capacity to Limekiln Wind Farm and will generate not only more green energy, but add to the community benefit fund and the potential for shared ownership.”
“The Limekiln Wind Farm was our first project in Scotland, and we are delighted to be able to look to maximize its potential with this extension plan,” said Nicolas Wolff, Vice President and General Manager, Boralex Europe. “We believe that maximizing capacity from a wind farm through extensions such as this will help address the very real climate emergency we all face.”
Located 2.8km Southwest of Dounreay Power Station, the extension proposal consists of 7 turbines and will connect with the consented, 21-turbine Limekiln Wind Farm. Limekiln Wind Farm Extension is expected to be submitted to the Scottish Government in the spring of 2020. Community Open Days will be held on the 20th and 21st November in Reay Village Hall (3-7pm on Wednesday and 2-7pm on Thursday) in order to consult the local community on this new plan and also to keep them updated with plans for overall construction at the site.
These extension plans are not expected to add any delays to the original 21-turbine wind farm project. Full construction works are envisaged to start in 2021 and we expect the site to be fully operational before the end of 2022.
Infinergy and Boralex announced the execution of a 50-50 joint venture agreement in October 2017, aimed at developing a pipeline of onshore wind projects, including the Limekiln Wind Farm project, essentially located in Scotland for a total estimated capacity of 325 MW.