Is East Lothian being overrun by wind turbines?

Even local Green councillor opposes the latest proposed wind farm plan

The existing Crystal Rig wind farm. Pic: Power Systems UK

Back in September, East Lothian Council Planning Committee voted unanimously against a proposal by Belltown Power UK Wind Limited to add another wind farm to the Lammermuir Hills.

While the Scottish Government’s Energy Consent Unit will make the final decision, it is striking that councillors across parties, including Green Party councillor Shona McIntosh, rejected the bid to expand renewable energy generation. 

There are three main reasons the wind farm has faced local opposition. Firstly, that East Lothian is simply full. Following ELC’s decision, the Musselburgh Courrier quoted the council leader Norman Hampshire saying “You can’t have the whole of East Lothian covered in wind turbines.” 

Secondly, local campaign groups and council officers also argue that the size and location of the wind farm is the problem. “We’ve got to have turbines. I’m not against wind turbines, none of us are, but they’ve got to be in the right place.” said Caroline Straker, a member of the Lammermuir SOS campaign group. The group, which gained nearly 900 signatures in an online petition against the wind farm, argues that the size and position of these wind turbines is unacceptable. 

A third issue is the level of damage resulting from the wind farm’s construction: not only on the land where the wind turbines will stand, but also the access road to construct the wind farm. 

Quantity

There are already over 300 wind turbines on the Lammermuir hills; there is also a large offshore development planned at Berwick Bank, which has received the local authority’s blessing. Considering Scotland already produces enough renewable electricity to satisfy our own demand, why should East Lothian be burdened with yet more, arguably unnecessary, onshore wind farms?  

First of all, we do need more renewable electricity - demand for electricity in Scotland is predicted to increase by 66% by 2050, as heating and transport switch from fossil fuels to electric power. 54% of Scotland's goods exports to the EU in 2023 were oil and gas. With North Sea oil and gas extraction set to decline, exporting renewable energy is fundamental to the Scottish Government’s new Green Industrial Strategy. Furthermore, onshore wind farms are some of the cheapest energy sources in the UK, along with solar power. Onshore wind turbines also last longer than offshore, as they don’t have to stand up to salty sea and air. 

The tougher question to answer is whether East Lothian already has its fair share of the onshore wind burden. According to the Highland Council, its local authority has 1113 onshore wind turbines, with over 800 more approved or under construction. Obviously this is spread over a wide area, but most of these wind farms are near towns and villages.