Iona wind farm: Could 91-turbine project reshape Scotland's coast?

The National Trust for Scotland has said it plans to object to the MachairWind development, set to cover an area more than half the land mass of Mull, which it considers poses “significant environmental, social and economic risks”.

Community council convener, Shiona Ruhemann said: “If development on this scale is considered acceptable in the setting of Iona, Staffa, the Treshnish Isles and Western Mull, where nothing like it exists just now – and which is a living nationally-important cultural landscape, a protected wilderness – then there's no meaningful limit on future industrialisation of the West Coast seascapes, or of any other parts of Scotland.”

MachairWind’s turbines will cover around 450 square kilometres, in an area Ruhemann said, is “currently defined by openness, simplicity, and the absence of large-scale development”.

ScottishPower Renewables, MachairWind's developer, points out that the wind farm "will deliver more clean power to the grid, strengthen the UK’s energy security and help drive economic growth".

With electricity demand set to double by 2050, it could generate around 2GW of clean, green electricity – enough to power 2 million homes.

Its development area was one of 17 identified – following extensive consultation by the Scottish Government – in the government's Sectoral Marine Plan, and ScottishPower Renewables, following competitive seabed leasing auction managed by Crown Estate Scotland for these sites, was awarded the rights in January 2022.

While no turbine technology has been chosen yet, the proposals for the windfarm currently incorporate between 91 and 144 (depending on size and capacity) turbines.  The maximum blade tip height would range from 280m to 335m.

The tallest of these will be among the highest in the world, and, if delivered, will be relatively close to land. Ruhemann noted that Dogger Bank has the UK’s current tallest turbines at 260 m, and is sited 78-124 miles from land, but MachairWind’s could bring 340m turbines to just 7.7 miles from Colonsay and 12.95 miles from Iona.

ScottishPower Renewables is due to submit an application to the Scottish Government’s Marine Directorate seeking consent this month, after which host communities will have a month during which to support or object to it.

A survey conducted in March by the Iona Community Council on whether to object to the proposal, which had returns from two thirds of households, found that 92% objected to the development. In almost every case, those who objected stressed very strongly that they support renewables and net zero transition.

(Image: SSE)

Ruhemann said: “This is not about opposition to renewables. We've got a very, very strong track record on renewables and net zero.”

The community on Iona have fought for their own community renewable energy, including a ten-year fight to get a ground source heat network, and another for a small turbine, neither of which have been facilitated to go ahead. "We couldn’t,” said Ruhemann, “install a small community wind turbine mainly because restrictions on height and visibility were so strict. Yet those same principles disappear when the proposal is a 91-turbine offshore wind farm occupying hundreds of square kilometres of the surrounding sea."

Their objection to MachairWind, she explained, is “largely because it would industrialise an undeveloped, nationally and internationally-significant cultural and natural heritage landscape. It would bring major uncertainty around ecological effects, for bird life and sea mammals, and expose us as a fragile island community to risks that aren't even being assessed.”

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“Our economy, our sustainability, Iona’s international reputation, all of those are inseparable from the landscape and seascape setting. The impacts on these islands would be immediate, direct and irreversible, whereas the benefits are distant, indirect, unconvincing and unspecified.”

“The international significance of this area comes from a relationship between the island, the surrounding ocean and the wider Atlantic horizon. The sea is not merely the setting for that heritage, it's an integral part of the heritage that needs to be protected.”

Finlay MacDonald, who skippers boat trips for Staffa Tours, said that one of his biggest concerns was for the birds.

“When you read reports about Berwick Bank wind farm on the east coast, and the devastation to birds that could cause. It's similar over here, where we have important bird populations, but it is just a different side of the country.

Iona residents who are campaigning against the MachairWind development, including Shiona Ruhemann, fourth from left (Image: Shiona Ruhemann)

“We have a lot of people come here specifically to see corncrakes, and they will fly right through the array. I spoke to an expert from Cambridge University, who told me that is their route, at between 50 and 150m high.”

ScottishPower Renewables has already reduced the size of the plan by 40%, down from 754km² to 448km², following local consultation and engagement, in order to address concerns, including impact on birds.

“They think," said MacDonald, "that the mitigation is already done by reducing just the size of the array by about 40% from what the licence allowed to what they are planning to do, but that is just planning spin.”

His other concern is the seascape, and he shared photographs of views out to the Atlantic which could be impacted by the turbines.

“The views are so important," he said. "I work out in the boat all the time, and when I look around, other than boats and houses, I can't see anything that's manmade. Very occasionally you'll see a lighthouse. There are unbroken horizons between islands. Iona is a separate island from Mull, but if you are out in a boat, and there's line of turbines on the horizon that join them, then they won’t look separate anymore, and people have absolutely no concept of how big these things are.”

There is also, he said, the island’s cultural heritage to consider. “Iona has a massive religious significance to the world. St Columba arrived from Ireland, crossed in a coracle via Colonsay going right through they are talking about putting an array, came to Iona, climbed up a hill, could not see Ireland, the rest is history. There will be people who go to that hill for religious reasons or spiritual reasons and they are going to be sitting looking at an industrial skyline. It is just beyond comprehension to me.”

He added: “We're very lucky in some ways that when oil was never struck here, I think if oil was struck here in the 60s and 70s, the seascape would already be industrialised. The East Coast, it is riddled with windfarms, because infrastructure is there, because it's already been industrialized.

“Our unique selling point in the West Coast is the fact that it's not industrialised, and a lot of people build businesses and their lives around that, because tourism is the major driver of Iona."

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For Ruhemann this is not just about the effects of MachairWind itself. “It's the precedent it establishes for future management of Scotland's most valued environments and assets. What do any of these designations mean, what is nationally important cultural and natural heritage worth?

“The issue isn’t only whether these turbines would be seen – which they definitely would be – but that they would completely change the character of one of Europe’s most celebrated Atlantic seascapes, transforming it into an industrialised horizon.”

The development, she claimed, did not “meet with the requirements of National Planning Framework 4 (NPF4), the National Marine Plan and associated environmental legislation”. “These make it clear that renewable energy development must be delivered in a way that protects nationally important landscapes, cultural heritage, biodiversity, and communities. MachairWind fails those tests.”

She noted: “NPF4 is clear that development affecting a National Scenic Area (NSA) should only proceed where the area's integrity is not compromised, or where any harm is clearly outweighed by social, environmental or economic benefits of national importance. MachairWind fails that test too. "

At the heart of that National Scenia Area is Staffa, famous for its basalt columns and Fingal’s Cave, which she describes as “an internationally recognised visitor destination, celebrated for its natural and geological qualities and experienced through views of sea and horizon."

She points out: "If you look out from Staffa towards Iona and its hugely important southern outlook, there will be a horizon of turbines that completely changes the character and integrity of Staffa and the NSA.

One of the views out to the Atlantic that could be impacted by MachairWind turbines (Image: Finlay MacDonald)

“Our position," she added, "is that MachairWind would cause really significant harm to the setting and the special qualities of the National Scenic Area, but there's no location-specific national benefit demonstrated to counter that harm.”

None of the electricity generated, she noted, would be distributed to the island communities described as “host communities”. Some would be sent to Wales.

“The developer, Scottish Power Renewables, confirmed to us that the energy would go to around Kilmarnock and Wales. Scotland and Wales are already net exporters of electricity. Given that Scotland already exports large amounts of renewable electricity, how is industrialising nationally important seascapes and island landscapes a proportionate way to deliver additional generation?”

A National Trust for Scotland spokesperson said: "The National Trust for Scotland supports the transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy, needed to both address climate change and to help restore nature. However, we are concerned that the location and scale of the proposed MachairWind wind farm development will cause unacceptable environmental damage. In particular, we are concerned by the anticipated impact on marine life, bird life, and on landscapes and seascapes. We consider that these pose significant environmental, social and economic risks. Given these concerns, we intend to object to the proposed development."

But the project does have its local supporters. Jura resident, Kirsten Gow, described how she recently wrote to her local community council supporting it.

"I see engagement with this project," she said, "as an opportunity for us to benefit from the natural resources that are on our doorstep in order to create sustainable futures for our Islands (we have multiple privately owned renewable energy projects on Jura but as yet no community benefit fund). We don't want handouts we just want a fair share, and this seems to be a fair and equitable way to do this that is in line with community wealth building and just transition agendas."

She also thought the proposal might "offer us this the kind of secure, long term funding that would allow us to create a sustainable future for our community", including perhaps enough money through the community benefit fund to employ a full time development worker for the island.

ScottishPower Renewables have carried out extensive engagement and consultation with the island communities on Islay, Jura, Colonsay, Ross of Mull and Iona, as well as many other individuals and organisations including other sea users and the agencies responsible for Scotland’s nature and cultural heritage. 

A spokesperson for ScottishPower Renewables said: “We’ve met with and listened to our many host island communities, including Iona, extensively over a number of years, as well as engaging with key statutory bodies like NatureScot and Historic Environment Scotland as we progress plans for MachairWind. 

“We fully recognise the environmental and cultural importance of these islands and their seascapes. We believe an offshore windfarm can be sensitively-sited here and have made changes to our project in response to community feedback to ensure that can be achieved. We’ve also carried out comprehensive environmental assessments to ensure the project meets the rigorous standards required by the planning process and are committed to measures that will deliver positive outcomes for nature.  

“MachairWind will deliver more clean power to the grid, strengthen the UK’s energy security and help drive economic growth. We remain committed to working with local communities to realise these benefits for the islands, wider Argyll and Bute region, and Scotland."