Key Issues

LANDSCAPE

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North west Sutherland is revered for its unspoilt natural beauty, with precious habitats for wildlife - coastal and freshwater, moorland, croftland, peatland, sea cliffs, meadow and woodland.

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The development would be sited on Class 1 and Class 2 peat, with the majority of the area being on Class 1 Peat.  Class 1 peat is nationally important carbon-rich soil which keeps carbon locked up in the ground. Disturbing peatland releases the carbon into the atmosphere, adding to our carbon emissions.

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The site is entirely within the NorthWest Highlands Geopark, which has UNESCO Global Geopark status and is recognised for its internationally important geological heritage. The rocks in Sutherland are the oldest to be found anywhere in Europe - the Lewisian Gneiss is three billion years old. The Geopark also holds evidence of the earliest life to be found anywhere in Europe - with stromatolites that are 1.2 billion years old.

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The Foinaven Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) borders part of the proposed site, as well as a  Special Area of Conservation (SAC). These areas are designated for their upland and freshwater habitat including blanket bog and rare types of lochs.

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The site proposed for the windfarm is one of extraordinary, unspoilt natural beauty. It is simply the wrong site for an industrial development on this scale.

 

BIODIVERSITY

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This area is an oasis for native bird species which are at risk in other parts of Scotland - including greenshank, great northern diver, red-throated driver, ptarmigan, golden eagle and puffin.

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There are three SPAs (Special Protection Areas) within 10km of the site - designated for their importance to golden eagles, fulmar, guillemot, great skua and kittiwake.

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The loss of their habitat here - particularly for the greenshank and the great northern diver - could pose a significant risk to their conservation status in Scotland.

 

GRID CONNECTION

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​To date, Galileo Empower has not addressed the question of how the windfarm will connect to the national grid. This is a major issue, particularly in light of the recent decision on the proposed Wull Muir windfarm in the Scottish Borders. Scottish appeal judges in that case ruled that the planning decision maker (a Reporter in that case) should have considered whether the details of the off-site grid connection required to export electricity to the grid should have been assessed within the Environmental Impact Assessment Report for the application.

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It is unclear how Galileo intends to connect the windfarm to the nearest grid connection, but the most likely option would be at least 20 miles of major pylon line to connect to appropriate transmission infrastructure. It is not currently known whether the grid has capacity to accept additional power at this point.  A significant new pylon line would decimate the extraordinary beauty of this unspoilt landscape.

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CONSULTATION INFORMATION

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Six public consultations were held by Galileo Empower between October 2024 and October 2025.

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The information provided to date at these events has been minimal. We look forward to more detailed community consultations and the opportunity to comment fully on the application, once submitted.

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POWER GENERATION

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The pace and scale of renewable energy development is causing concern across rural Scotland, not just in Kinlochbervie.

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There is one windfarm already operational in the area (Creag Riabhach, with 22 turbines), while three further windfarms have been approved for construction (Creag Riabhach Extension with 3 turbines; Sallachy with 9 turbines and Bettyhill Phase 2 with 10 turbines). A further windfarm, with 16 turbines, at Shinness, will be considered at a Public Inquiry later this year.

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Crucially none of the above are located on the remote North West coast of Scotland. Further extending the grid infrastructure west of the watershed would threaten the wildness west of the watershed from Skye to Cape Wrath.

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The current system for electricity generation is flawed - developers are getting the green light to build more and more windfarms and battery storage sites in rural Scotland. Huge multi-national developers are paid when they produce energy and also paid to switch off wind turbines, as the supply of electricity now exceeds demand, by some margin.

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These grid constraint payments (curtailment costs) reached £1.5 billion last year.

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Even NESO (the National Energy System Operator) warned recently that there is excess energy generation and the grid could be overwhelmed by a glut of renewable power this summer.

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There is an urgent need for a national conversation about Scotland’s energy needs and how to prevent damage to the countryside.

The local community accepts that there might be some need for further renewable energy to serve markets in England, but the Kinlochbervie area is not the right location for another windfarm. The damage that would be caused to the landscape and wildlife, not just from the windfarm itself but also from the necessary power lines, would be devastating. 

Since Scotland is already well over capacity for wind energy production, with existing generating capacity of four times the predicted maximum Scottish demand in 2030, it is not just pointless but counter-productive to continue to sacrifice our natural heritage, particularly in areas which are nationally and internationally recognised for their rare habitats and biodiversity.

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FIND OUT MORE

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Contact us by email at the following address: info@KeepKLBspecial.co.uk