Helensburgh Community Wind Farm

January 2013

Contents
1 Helensburgh Community Wind Farm ................................................................................................... 1 1.1 1.2 Project Summary........................................................................................................................... 1 Planning......................................................................................................................................... 2 Proposed Strategy ................................................................................................................. 2 Planning Context ................................................................................................................... 2

1.2.1 1.2.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 1.9 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13

Budget/Finance ............................................................................................................................. 3 Access ............................................................................................................................................ 5 Landscape and Visual .................................................................................................................... 5 Cumulative Impacts ...................................................................................................................... 5 Ecology .......................................................................................................................................... 5 Noise ............................................................................................................................................. 6 Cultural Heritage ........................................................................................................................... 6 Electro-Magnetic Infrastructure ................................................................................................... 6 Aviation ......................................................................................................................................... 6 Wind Resource Assessment .......................................................................................................... 6 Project Program ............................................................................................................................ 7

Appendix 1 Location Plan ZTV and Photomontage for 74m to tip height Enercon E48 Turbines ............ 8

1 Helensburgh Community Wind Farm 1.1 Project Summary

The Helensburgh Community Wind Farm located on Luss Estate is a 3 way Joint Venture project between Green Cat Renewables, the Luss Estate and the local community with each owning a third of the project. The site location is shown in Figure 2.1, and key information presented in Table 2.1.
Table 2.1 Site information

Site Address OS Grid Reference Local Planning Authority Number Of Turbines Maximum Tip Height Candidate Machine Rated Capacity Current Land Use NOABL database wind speed

Land at Tom nah Airdh Hill, nr Helensburgh NS 29300 85300 Argyll and Bute 5 86m Enercon E53 (60m Hub height) 4MW Agriculture 7.5m/s

Proposed Site

Figure 1.1 Site Location

1.2 Planning 1.2.1 Proposed Strategy

A scoping report is currently being refreshed before being forwarded to the Estate for approval and comment before being submitted to the council.

1.2.2 Planning Context

The key diagram in the structure plan shows that the site lies in an area marked as potentially constrained. The site is boarded by a protected area and also by the National Park. Objective RE1 (Renewable Energy) of the structure plan aims to increase and exploit the potential for renewable energy without undermining the key environmental features of Argyll and Bute. The Argyll and Bute Landscape Capacity Study identifies the site as being in Area 5 Open Ridgeland, which it states has no scope for the larger typologies to be located without incurring significant impacts on a number of sensitivity criteria. It goes on to state that There is some limited scope for the small medium-turbines to be accommodated in this landscape. Note we are proposing turbines which are 86m to tip height, this is classed as medium in the landscape capacity study and medium is further classed as a larger typology, small-medium being for turbines between 35m and 50m to tip height. However, area 5 covers a large area and within this large area there are parts that are more sensitive and parts that are less sensitive. We believe that this site is located in one of the least sensitive parts of area 5. In a meeting with Argyll and Bute Council we were advised that this site may have capacity for up to 5 turbines of no more than 50m to tip height, however, this advice was given based on the policy documents without detailed consideration of the site. Based on our subsequent assessment work we believe that 5 turbines of 86m tip height could be accommodated at this site with acceptable impacts. For avoidance of doubt turbines of up to 50m tip height is not a viable option, however, there may be a compromise position using machines of ~74m to tip although this would lead to a significant reduction in cash available to the community.

1.3 Budget/Finance
Table 1.2 below shows the expected capital expenditure of the project, extracted from the full financial model.
Table 1.2 Capital Costs

Turbines (inc contingency) Civil works Foundation Earthworks Grid Connection On-site electrical Consultancy fees* Accountant Construction Insurance Bank charges/Due diligence Bank Guarantee Debt&service maintenance reserve Interest during construction Balance of plant contingency On site electrical contingency Global Contingency Total Project Cost Bank Loan Equity

4,335,000 300,000 80,000 1,000,000 400,000 220,000 20,000 30,000 140,000 40,000 490,000 106,000 260,000 120,000 250,000 7,791,000 7,011,900 779,100

*Includes planning, client engineer, geotechnical and legal support

The financial model for this project works and gives good returns to all partners. Expected returns based on a P50 wind resource estimate of 13,600MWh and projected annual cash flow are shown in Figure 1.2.

Community Share It has been agreed that as long as the project is in profit the community will receive a minimum of 40,000 per annum with any balance shared between the other partners, if profits are greater than 120,000 then these will be split equally between the partners. In an average wind speed year this should deliver around 130,000 to the community rising to approximately 550,000 when the loan has been paid off after year 12. Note at this stage it is unknown whether the community would able to totally avoid corporation tax.

Luss Estate
5 Enercon E53 800kW 60m tower

,000 7,791 239 0 7,552 3.0%

Est. full Capital Costs Equity Planning Gain Loan (12 year term) Inflation

3% 0% 97% 100.0% Year 1 ,000 1,433 72 22 390 40 910 103.0% Year 2 ,000 1,476 141 22 390 41 882 449 432

Total MW Capacity PPA Price per kWh Output MWh Loan rate 106.1% Year 3 ,000 1,520 145 23 390 42 920 419 501 109.3% Year 4 ,000 1,565 149 24 390 44 959 386 573

4 Exchange 39% 0.1053 P50 P90 13,605 13605 11,830 6.50% 112.6% Year 5 ,000 1,612 154 24 390 45 1,000 351 649 115.9% Year 6 ,000 1,661 234 25 390 46 966 314 652 119.4% Year 7 ,000 1,711 241 26 390 48 1,006 274 732

0.8

Income Operating Expenses DUoS Grid charges Depreciation Admin

123.0% 126.7% 130.5% 134.4% 138.4% 142.6% 146.9% 151.3% 155.8% 160.5% 165.3% 170.2% 175.4% Year 8 Year 9 Year 10 Year 11 Year 12 Year 13 Year 14 Year 15 Year 16 Year 17 Year 18 Year 19 Year 20 ,000 ,000 ,000 ,000 ,000 ,000 ,000 ,000 ,000 ,000 ,000 ,000 ,000 1,762 1,815 1,869 1,925 1,983 2,043 2,104 2,167 2,232 2,299 2,368 2,439 2,512 249 27 390 49 1,048 231 817 256 27 390 51 1,091 186 905 264 28 390 52 1,136 138 998 272 29 390 54 1,181 86 1,095 280 30 390 55 1,228 31 1,197 288 31 390 57 1,277 297 32 390 59 1,327 306 33 390 61 1,378 315 34 390 62 1,432 324 35 390 64 1,486 334 36 390 66 1,542 344 37 390 68 1,600 354 38 390 70 1,660

(years)

20

Operating Profit (Profit Before Financing costs) Less Bank Loan Interest 1 Net Profit/Loss (PAFC) Cashflow Profit + depreciation Less bank loan 1 capital Opening cash Closing cash Available cash Helensburgh Luss Green Cat 3,227

478 432

1,277

1,327

1,378

1,432

1,486

1,542

1,600

1,660

5,854 0

821 430 0 391 391 130 130 130

822 459 391 755 363 121 121 121

891 489 755 1,156 401 134 134 134

963 522 1,156 1,597 441 147 147 147

1,038 557 1,597 2,078 481 160 160 160

1,041 594 2,078 2,525 447 149 149 149

1,122 634 2,525 3,012 488 163 163 163

1,206 677 3,012 3,542 530 177 177 177

1,295 722 3,542 4,115 573 191 191 191

1,387 770 4,115 4,732 617 206 206 206

1,485 822 4,732 5,395 663 221 221 221

1,587 877 5,395 6,105 710 237 237 237

1,667 6,105 7,771 1,667 556 556 556

1,717 7,771 9,488 1,717 572 572 572

1,768 9,488 11,256 1,768 589 589 589

1,821 11,256 13,077 1,821 607 607 607

1,876 13,077 14,953 1,876 625 625 625

1,932 14,953 16,885 1,932 644 644 644

1,990 16,885 18,875 1,990 663 663 663

2,050 18,875 20,924 2,050 683 683 683

Figure 1.2- Annual project cash flow

1.4 Access
We have identified a number of access routes from the public highway onto the site. The preferred route would be through Drumfad farm. There is an existing track that lead part of the way up onto the hill, the rest would need to be new build. This route would cause the fewest impacts on the environment.

1.5 Landscape and Visual

The ZTV shows that the turbine is theoretically fully visible at all of the larger settlements within a 5km radius: Helensburgh, Rosneath, Rhu, and Clynder. The Settlements to the north west along the A814 however will have zero theoretical visibility. Within 10km Garelochead, Rowmore, Cove, and Kilcreggan are screened by topography. There is however theoretically full visibility in the Greenock, Cardros, and Arden. Beyond 10km visibility becomes patchier although the development is theoretically visible at a number of settlements and other receptors, including isolated pockets of the national park.

1.6 Cumulative Impacts

There are a number of wind developments at various stages located in the local and wider area. The nearest operational project is Cruach Mhor, a 35 turbine project ~25.4Km from the site. Kelburn is a consented project ~30Km away, whilst Harelaw (40 turbines) is at planning stage and is ~ 40km from the site. In addition to these there are a number of projects in the area at various stages of development notably the Rosneath project which will apply for planning consent by the end of the year for 5 E70

1.7 Ecology
Ecology work for the site began in April 2012 and is being undertaken by Garry Mortimer of GLM Ecology a highly respected field ecologist. The site does not lie within or adjacent to an area designated for its habitats. Due to the site location and surrounding it is proposed that a Phase 1 Habitat study will be carried out by an experienced surveyor in line with standard guidance (JNCC, 1993). This will include the proposed development site and a 500m buffer zone. There are a number of designated landscapes which fall into the zone of impact for this site. Most notable is that the Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park boundary borders the site. This has the potential to make planning quite a challenge. Other designated landscapes are listed in Table 2.3 below.
Table 2.3- Designated Landscapes

National Park

Special Protection Special Areas of SSSI Areas Conservation Loch Lomond Inner Clyde (Also Loch Lomond Woods Inner Clyde and The ramsar) Trossachs Loch Lomond Endrick Water Renfrewshire Heights

National Scenic Areas Loch Lomond

1.8 Noise
Given the size of the site and the proximity of surrounding properties it should be possible to design the site in such a way that avoids any noise issues.

1.9 Cultural Heritage

No features of cultural heritage have been identified within 200m of the proposed turbine locations. The closest NMR is Drumfad (CANMORE ID 41455). Therefore the risk of potential direct impact on any known site of cultural heritage is unlikely to be significant. An initial assessment shows that there are 8 cultural heritage feature of national importance within 5km, with a further nine features within 10km which should also be considered as part of the Environmental Assessment.

1.10 Electro-Magnetic Infrastructure

Ofcom and the main microwave link operators have yet to be been contacted regarding this proposal. This will be done prior to submitting the scoping report to the council.

1.11 Aviation
The main concern is the visibility of the site to the Glasgow ATC radar. Only eastern part of the site is screened from this radar. There is a risk of objection for a multi-turbine site with turbines in the western and northern parts of the site, however, there are some prospects of mitigation with a reduction to 1-3 turbines in this part of the site. A NATS study will be commissioned to address this risk. There is a lower risk of an unmanageable objection from NERL due to impacts on the Lowther hill radar, though an initial objection may be used as a lever to fund blanking. MoD clear so far; Air Traffic, Air Defence & precision approach radar all low risk. Low priority military low fly area. But MoD submarine base as Faslane an unknown risk to the project.

1.12 Wind Resource Assessment

An anemometer mast has not been installed on this site, however, a desk based assessment has been undertaken. The starting point for this assessment was the NOABL database of wind speeds 7.9m/s AMWS at 40m AOD, however, we know from other sites in this region that the NOABL database tends to overestimate wind speed by approximately 0.5m/s. This was used to initialise a basic windflow model for the site and hence make an initial energy yield assessment based on Enercon E48 turbines on 50m towers. This assessment gave a P50 estimate of energy production of 11,850MWh per annum and a P90 (90% confidence that wind speed will be better than over a 10 year period) estimate of 10,300MWh per annum.

1.13 Project Program

Figure 2.4 below shows the latest planning program. It can be seen that the target is to submit a planning application by June 2013.

Figure 2.4 Project Program

Appendix 1 Location Plan ZTV and Photomontage for 86m to tip height Enercon E53 Turbines