We act for Viking Energy Wind Farm LLP in respect of the major wind farm development on mainland Shetland.
The project has Consent from the Scottish Ministers for the installation of 103 wind turbines with a total capacity of circa 450 Megawatts. It is expected to be one of the largest onshore windfarms in the UK with the highest annual electricity output when construction is completed and it begins generating.
We have provided advice and support to this ground-breaking remote island wind project for over 10 years, building and adapting the appropriate team for each aspect and stage of the project.
Skills applied include:
- Corporate;
- Crofting;
- Dispute Resolution;
- Energy Regulation and support mechanisms;
- Land assembly;
- Planning; and
- Rural tenure.
This has included:
- Investigating complex estate titles, putting in place 20+ landowner agreements and purchase of specific areas of land;
- Acting on behalf of the client together with senior and junior counsel throughout the challenge of the s36 Planning Consent, by way of judicial review, through the Inner and Outer House of the Court of Session and up to the Supreme Court where the consent for the development was ultimately upheld;
- Transfer of project interests to appropriate corporate vehicles;
- Providing advice in relation to the application to vary the existing s36 Planning Consent to enable the development to proceed with increased wind turbine tip height and increased rotor diameter;
- Preparation and submission to the Scottish Land Court of a Scheme for Development to facilitate development on an extensive area (> 10,000 ha) of croft land, involving multiple common grazings and several hundred crofting interest. This was the largest application under the relevant legislation and required forensic consideration of the legislation and the various impacts of the windfarm on crofters’ interests, and providing a scheme to compensate them accordingly. The Scottish Land Court granted approval of the Scheme for Development in September 2018;
- Advice in relation to Contracts for Difference;
- Securing the approval of the Scottish Land Court of a second Scheme for Development to facilitate development on an extensive area of croft land in accordance with the varied Scottish Government consent; and
- Advising in relation to varying land agreements to enable commencement of works, discharge of planning conditions, interaction with third parties in relation to connection and delivery routes.
