Older windfarms won't increase East Ayrshire community benefit cash says council
East Ayrshire Council said that other benefits, such as job training support were getting developer support
Attempts to increase the amount of money older wind farms give East Ayrshire's communities were met with a firm 'No' according to East Ayrshire Council's head of economic development.
However, other moves around training and employment are being backed by developers and energy companies.
The likes of Whitelee Wind Farm, once the biggest in Europe, agreed their level of community benefits before the introduction of guidance from the Scottish Government more than a decade ago.
While there is no legal requirement to offer money to create renewable energy funds, it has become standard practice to offer £5,000 per MW of power produced, as recommended by the Scottish Government.
However, this figure was suggested in 2014, with older windfarms often agreeing far less.
Whitelee Wind Farm, the largest in the UK and formerly in Europe, agreed to pay just £1,000 per MW, with a subsequent extension application securing an increase to £2,500.
Many residents and groups have argued that they should be getting more, especially in areas where there is a significant density of facilities, such as the south end of East Ayrshire.
But, David McDowall, Head of Economic Growth at East Ayrshire Council told councillors that many developers were also facing financial struggles.
At a meeting of East Ayrshire Cabinet this week, he recommended that no changes be made to the way renewable energy funds are distributed and applied for.
Currently, wind farm funds are limited to communities within 10km of a facility for the first 10 years of operation, with half then being opened up to the whole of East Ayrshire after that period.
However, an amendment last year, saw that, before broadening to the whole of the authority, a review to determine whether there was a greater need to maintain the 10km restriction.
Whitelee reached that threshold in 2023 and now splits the funding for both the original £1,000 and the subsequent £2,500 for the extension.
Mr McDowall explained: 'A review will be undertaken to assess whether parts of the fund should indeed be made available to a wider spatial area.
'This review will take account of the ongoing need and demand for funding within the 10km buffer and the wider funding landscape beyond the 10km buffer taking cognisance of what funding will be available to the the other relevant communities.'
He said the disparity had been discussed with Scottish Power and that they were looking a number of areas to provide 'real opportunities' for communities.
Mr McDowall continued: 'We've recently introduced the Whitelee skills fund which will deliver 30 apprentices and 30 interns along with pre employment training.'
However, a push to increase the amount provided by those who had agreed the lower payments per MW has been unsuccessful.
He said: 'One of the kind of asks has been, can we get the the the funding updated from the £1,000 or £2,500 to £5,000.
'We were given a resounding no initially, but discussions are ongoing and there's a proposal to meet between the leaders of East Ayrshire, East Renfrewshire and South Lanarkshire to take forward discussions directly with the Scottish Government.
'It is now common place across Scotland that developers work directly with community groups to agree community benefits rather than paying into the the fund so while the renewable energy fund for East Ayrshire remains a viable option for developers it is now one that's being used far less.'
Mr McDowall set out the work undertaken by the Nine CC group, a coalition of nine communities in the south of the authority, who have come to together to make better, more strategic, use of the funds each was receiving from community benefits.
However, he did acknowledge that 'several in farm developers are facing challenging financial circumstances and and obviously issues like grid connections as well and that's requiring them in some industries to reprofile their community benefit commitments.'
Councillor Iain Linton, Cabinet member for resources and economy said: 'I think it sums up well where we are just now.
'Obviously we're anticipating the Nine CC fund getting up and running in the the near future and that will take a bit of the strain off the the the sharing of the the Whitelee money.
'I think they seem to be quite keen in the projects that we've supported in the past.'
He also said that Scottish Power had showcased a number of the projects in East Ayrshire and hoped that the company would work with the council to promote and potentially expand the apprentice and intern programme.
Mr McDowall responded: 'I think they nearly bit my hand off when we suggested it.
'So they do want, let's say, the accolades that go along with their funding going towards these apprenticeships.
'We're also working with Ayrshire College and and looking at trying to bring some of the pre-apprenticeship training that is delivered both centrally in Glasgow and Edinburgh towards Ayrshire College.
'Obviously we know that there's a a gap in the renewable sector.'
He said that both companies were losing staff but also investing in work in East Ayrshire.
He added: 'What we're trying to do is to get a lot of those vacancies filled with residents within East Ayrshire.'
Cabinet approved the report.
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