Banks Renewables have unveiled plans for a 300MW wind farm in Scotland that would be one of the largest onshore projects in the UK.
If construction permission is granted, its Bodinglee project in South Lanarkshire would be the UK’s third largest consented onshore wind farm.
Blueprints for the project have been put forward by Banks Renewables – a sister company of the Banks Mining Group, which has hit national headlines after several failed attempts at opening a £120 million (€132 million) opencast coal mine near Druridge Bay in Northumberland, north-east England.
Under its current plans for Bodinglee, Banks wants to build a 300MW project featuring 60 turbines with maximum tip heights of up to 250 metres. It believes this will be capable of powering 165,000 homes.
In its preliminary consultation, it has also targeted a project lifespan up to 40 years – roughly double the industry average.
Banks Renewables believes that the onshore wind farm will be able to displace the equivalent of 150,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide and could be a crucial project for Scotland’s ambitious decarbonisation plans to reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2045.
If built, Bodinglee would more than double the developer’s renewable capacity from 222MW to 522MW.
In early 2021, Banks Renewables will organise consultation events about Bodinglee Wind Farm with a final design proposal completed the following year. It believes that a £45m community fund could be made available as part of the project’s application.
Subject to construction permission, it hopes that the project can be commissioned by 2029.
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