The Scotsman
17 Mar 2025
The bid by residents to take on the Cruach Mhor wind farm on the Cowal peninsula was widely regarded as a test case
A collective of residents on the west coast have pledged to fight on in their bid to take over a wind farm from an energy giant after having their bold bid rejected.
The bid by four community groups to take on the Cruach Mhor wind farm near Colintraive on the Cowal Peninsula was widely regarded as a test case on how residents can pull full benefit from energy developments on public land.
The windfarm of 34 turbines is operated by Scottish Power Renewables, which is owned by Spanish corporation Iberdrola, on land owned by Scottish Government agency Forestry and Land Scotland (FLS). The lease was up for renewal in 2029.
However, Cowal Community Energy (CCE) was unsuccessful in the tender process, which is understood to have attracted a total of 18 bids.
Alan Stewart, a director at Cowal Community Energy, said: “We’ve been told by Forestry and Land Scotland that they simply had not expected a community bid, which is genuinely astonishing in the 21st century and given the emphasis on community empowerment promoted by all our public bodies.
“This all shows that – despite the warm words – everything is still weighted to the well-resourced corporate developers with lots of available resources and established expertise. As things stand, the community groups have no chance in the bidding process.”
The existing turbines are nearing the end of their useful life and will need replaced, although it is believed some could continue running into the new lease period.
Now, CCE is seeking to to overturn the FLS decision and said it would work with Scottish Government ministers, as well as local political representatives and organisations who supported the bid.
“We feel that the Scottish Government and FLS’s own guidance to support community involvement has been largely ignored,” Mr Stewart said.
Dr Josh Doble, policy manager at Community Land Scotland said it was “truly disappointing” to learn that CCE’s bid was unsuccessful.
He said: “This was a test case in which FLS and the Scottish Government could have turned their warm words about community energy and community wealth building into real action. Their plans could transform the local economy of the Cowal Peninsula whilst making a significant contribution to SG’s own community-owned energy targets.
“We will continue to support CCE to realise their plans and challenge the flaws in the tendering process.”
A FLS statement said the body supported responsible renewable energy projects.
It added: “This is done in way that delivers best value to the taxpayer along with other criteria aligned to FLS’s overall corporate objectives - including full community benefit payments as well as an opportunity for community investment into the development.
“The recent tender exercise to repower Cruach Mhor wind farm received lots of market interest, including from Cowal Community Energy, and was designed to ensure that communities were considered as a key part of the overall evaluation.
“The tender process was conducted through open and fair competition and all tenders were scored consistently and in line with the published tender guidance. FLS said it was keen to explore how the local community could potentially benefit from part community ownership of the site.”