Glenurquhart and Strathglass
Wind Energy Project
Design
Provisional design statement
The site is a minor open hilltop, to the south-west of Cannich, in an area identified to have a hard stone base with a shallow peat covering. Five wind turbines are proposed, each a maximum of 100m tall, positioned at an approximate elevation of between 435m and 462m, spaced more than 5km away from any neighbour, in a cluster layout. The wind turbine locations will consist of areas of hardstanding nominally 25m by 40m, with the turbine foundations located below ground level.The area of hardstanding is required for the construction and assembly process.
Grid Connection
The wind turbines will be connected to the National Grid at Fasnakyle Power Station 6km from the site. A trench will be excavated to accommodate the high voltage and telecommunications cabling. The cabling from the site should all be underground, connecting to the National Grid at a switchgear building adjacent to the Fasnakyle power station in Strathglass, with this building designed to fit the surroundings.
Design
The design of the project will be 5 x 2MW turbines set 250m apart as shown on the attached plan.
Access Roads
The turbines can be hauled from Invergordon to Corrimony via the main roads. There are two bridges at Corrimony that will be checked for load bearing capacity. These may need to be braced to carry the loads.
As can be seen on the map showing the site, the first part of the track to the hill from Corrimony runs from the farm to an old bothy just short of the river, 3 km from the site. This part of the road is in good condition, having been upgraded and resurfaced by the Forestry Commission in the early 90's, and is 4km long and 3m wide.
A new Bailey Bridge will be required to cross the river at the Bothy. The track is poor from this bridge to within 500m of the site so will need to be fully upgraded. From the existing track out to the site a new road is required. The combined length of the fully upgraded track, the new track and the site access roads to each turbine is 4km.
Cable
To connect the windfarm to the Fasnakyle Power Station requires 6km of cable laid in a track 0.75m deep. A small sub station would be built close to the power station.
Project cost
If the project was constructed at current prices the cost would be in the region of £13 million. (June 2009)