RES has submitted a Section 36 planning application for its 19-turbine Longcroft Wind Farm proposal, located approximately 9km north of Lauder in the Scottish Borders.
The 125.4MW project, which went public in March 2023, has since been through detailed site assessment work and two rounds of public consultation.
If consented, Longcroft Wind Farm is predicted to deliver £6.3m of investment within the Scottish Borders during the anticipated 16-month construction period, RES said.
The project is expected to generate and approximately £65m in business rates to Scottish Borders Council over its operational lifetime, supporting vital local services.
In addition, RES has proposed a tailored community benefit package worth £627,000 each year.
James Cameron, Senior Development Project Manager at RES, said:”We want to ensure the local area tangibly benefits from this wind farm, and we continue to engage with the surrounding communities on how our tailored community benefit package could be put to best use.
“This could include RES’ unique Local Electricity Discount Scheme (LEDS), which we have found to be the preferred opportunity within the feedback received to date, and offers an annual discount to the electricity bills of those properties closest to the wind farm.
“If consented, Longcroft Wind Farm would inject millions of pounds into the local economy and bring sustained benefits to the surrounding community, including ambitious biodiversity proposals such as peatland restoration, native woodland riparian planting, installation of breeding and resting sites for protected species and enhancement of butterfly habitats.”
A statutory consultation period will now be held by the ECU to enable the public, as well as key consultees, to submit formal representations on the proposal.