The Orkney Islands Council has signed an agreement with a community turbine operator to compensate it for any potential wake effects from its proposed 28MW wind farm on the island of Hoy off the north of Scotland.
The deal will see an independent study into the potential for the six proposed 149.9 metres turbines for the Hoy wind farm to disturb the wind flow on community operator Hoy Energy’s nearby 900KW turbine in certain conditions.
The council says initial analysis suggests an impact is unlikely.
It also added that should the independent analysis find a potential effect, then Hoy Energy and the local community will be compensated for any lost revenue.
A planning application is due to submitted later this month for the council’s development at Wee Fea in Lyness.
The council’s strategic projects team is also investigating two other potential 28MW projects at Faray in the North Isles, in scoping, and at Quanterness in St Ola on the Orkney mainland, already in planning.
The council said all profit from the wind farms would stay in the islands, enabling the council to preserve and enhance key services that local people value and depend upon and providing a foundation for communities to drive “transformational” projects of their own.