Mainstream Renewable Power has launched an appeal against the Low Carbon Contracts Company’s decision to terminate a Contract for Difference for the 448MW Neart na Gaoithe offshore wind farm in Scotland.
The Irish developer said in a statement that it “strongly disputes the validity of the termination notice” issued by the LCCC in March and first reported in today’s subscriber-only reNEWS.
Mainstream and the LCCC are now in arbitration, the statement added.
“Neart na Gaoithe continues to work hard to ensure that this £2bn significant energy infrastructure project will be built as planned against a backdrop where the judicial review process…is on-going,” a Mainstream spokesman said.
In February, Mainstream’s chief operating officer Andy Kinsella said: “If they (LCCC) won’t grant any extension (for the CfD milestone deadline) then the project is dead. The money can’t hang around forever.”
The Scottish government said it is “disappointed” over the termination and added: “The developer has initiated a dispute with the LCCC over this decision and therefore (we) cannot comment further.”
The Firth of Forth 64-turbine wind farm is the subject of an ongoing court dispute over planning consent.
A consortium led by US company Intergen which featured Siemens Project Ventures, the Marguerite Fund and Infrared Capital were in line to buy the project and drive it through construction.
For the full story and comment, see today’s issue of subscriber-only newsletter reNEWS.
Image: reNEWS
