M74 West Renewable Energy Park

Introduction

M74 West Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of Glasgow based renewable energy developer Renewco Power Limited, is bringing forward a new renewable energy development at a site northwest of Abington services, South Lanarkshire, Scotland. The project is called M74 West Renewable Energy Park (M74 West) and will include up to 24 wind turbines, solar photo-voltaic (PV) generation and a battery energy storage system (BESS).  The proposed development will have a total installed capacity of up to 290MW and an export grid capacity of 249.9 MW.

The first stage in the application process is a request for an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Scoping Opinion from Scottish Ministers via the Energy Consents Unit.  The request was submitted on 5 January and can now be reviewed on the Energy Consents Unit website  The purpose of the EIA scoping request is to establish the view of Ministers, South Lanarkshire Council and other government bodies on the scope of the EIA which will be carried out for M74 West. The EIA will steer the refinement of the project and the findings will be reported as a key part of the application for a Section 36 consent.  

On the lead up to the Section 36 consent application, which will be submitted in 2024, Renewco Power will be consulting the local community on its proposals.  Details of the first consultation event are provided below.

Location

The M74 West site extends over an area of approximately 1,450 ha north and south of the M74, immediately north west of Abington services and approximately 3 km north west of Abington, South Lanarkshire, Scotland.  The site is centered around grid reference Easting 289028, Northing 626477. 

Our Proposals

The project will include up to 24 wind turbines of a maximum 200 m in height (to blade tip), ground mounted solar PV panels and a BESS.  The EIA scoping request identifies potential locations for the turbines and areas of search for the solar PV panels.  A detailed layout for the project including access points, access tracks, BESS, substation, and borrow pits will be submitted as part of the consent application following the outcome of the EIA scoping, community consultation and further environmental assessment and project refinement. Further details of the project can be found in the EIA scoping request which will be available on www.energyconsents.scot shortly.

Indicative Development Timescale

8th January

EIA Scoping Request submission

8th February 2024

Public consultation exhibition 1

Q2 2024

Public consultation exhibition 2

Q3 2024

Submission of EIA and S36 application

end of 2025

Consent granted

Q3 2026

Discharge of planning conditions

Q2 2027

Start of construction

Q4 2028

Start of operation

Q4 2068

Start of decommissioning

Q4 2069

Decommissioning complete

Public Consultation

The first public consultation event for M74 West took place on 8th February.  Thank you to all who attended and for feedback received to date. The deadline for feedback following the event was set at 7th March, however, we would still be delighted to hear from you either via our form below or via email - m74west@renewcopower.com

A further event will take place later in the year with details to be published in due course.

Why is this project needed?

The Climate Change (Emissions Reduction Targets) (Scotland) Act 2019, which amends the Climate Change (Scotland) Act 2009, sets targets to reduce Scotland’s emissions of all greenhouse gases to net zero by 2045 at the latest, with interim targets for reductions of at least 56% by 2020, 75% by 2030, and 90% by 2040. Significant additional renewable energy capacity, over and above what is produced today, will be needed to facilitate the decarbonisation of transport and heating as Scotland transitions to net zero.

The wind farm element of the M74 West project alone will be sufficient to power approximately 171,205 homes 1 and will have a significant role in helping the Scottish and UK governments to meet their emissions reduction and net zero commitments.   The BESS will also help balance electricity supply and demand on the National Grid.

In addition to its legally binding emissions reduction and net zero carbon targets, the Scottish Government has set a target of delivering a minimum of 20 GW of onshore wind and up to 6 GW of solar development by 2030.  The wind and solar components of M74 West, which could have a combined installed capacity of approximately 240 MW, would make a substantial contribution towards reaching these targets.

 

1 Calculated using RenewableUK’s methodology. Assumed capacity factor of 38.1% is taken from the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero’s (DESNZ) CFD Terms and Regulations Document. Average household consumption of 3.509 kWh is from DESNZ’s latest statistics.

Feedback Form

Privacy Statement 

By filling in this form, you are agreeing that Renewco Power can hold and process your personal data in relation to this public consultation exercise.

  • Renewco Power will only share your personal data with the project team for planning evaluation purposes.
  • Your identifiable, personal data will not be used for any other purposes without your consent.

Renewco Power and the project team will use your data to:

  • Send you updates about the project (where you provide us with your contact details).
  • Develop a Pre-Application Consultation Report and Community Benefit Report (or similar documents) about this public consultation that will be submitted to the planning authority or similar body; these will be publicly available documents. Your comments will be anonymous, and we will only identify you in these reports with your express permission.

If you provide us with your contact details, we might also contact you to ask more about the comments you’ve made.

 

Your details

Your contact details

Your feedback

We welcome your feedback, please provide your commects on the proposal overall:

Community Benefit Questionnaire

The below questions relate to the community benefit banner presented at the community engagement event on the 8th of February 2024 and available on this web page. Please take the time to review the banner before answering the questions.

a) Business development and growth
b) Skills and employability
c) Transition to net zero
d) Built and natural environment
e) Sustainable and active travel



If there are any other issues that should be prioritised for community benefit funding please note them below:
Please rank from 1 (poor) to 5 (excellent).






























Please rank from 1 (most important) to 7 (least important).

















































Data Protection

We hold all personal data in accordance with the retained EU law version of the General Data Protection Regulation ((EU) 2016/679) (the “UK GDPR”), as it forms part of the law of England and Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland by virtue of section 3 of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018, the Data Protection Act 2018, the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations 2003 as amended, and any successor legislation. Your personal data will not be transferred outside of the EU. You can see our full Privacy Policy and find out how to make a Subject Access Request at the following website address https://www.renewcopower.com/privacy-cookie-policy/ or by contacting us at info@renewcopower.com.

Downloads

R16200015684 M74 west Scoping report

Download - File size: 816KB

M74 Banners

Download - File size: 4516KB

Frequently Asked Questions

Wind turbines convert kinetic energy from wind into electrical energy. 

Wind turbine blades rotate when hit by the wind.  It is this spinning motion that turns a shaft in the nacelle – which is the box-like structure at the top of a wind turbine. A generator built into the nacelle then converts the kinetic energy of the turning shaft into electrical energy. This then passes through a transformer, which steps up the voltage so it can be transported on the National Grid or used by a local site.

Larger rotor diameters allow wind turbines to sweep more area, capture more wind, and produce more electricity. A turbine with longer blades will be able to capture more of the available wind than shorter blades.  Deploying larger turbines therefore allows significantly more energy to be produced by fewer turbines within a given area of land than a scheme using smaller turbines.

The site is considered to be suitable for wind farm development for the following reasons:

  • The site is situated amidst a cluster of operational and proposed wind farm developments, including the operational Middle Muir Wind Farm to the west and Clyde Wind Farm to the south east.
  • The site can accommodate a renewable energy development whilst avoiding significant direct effects on areas designated for nature conservation.
  • The site has suitable access for both construction traffic and abnormal indivisible loads.
  • The site has high anticipated wind speeds based on available data.
  • The site has good access to the electricity transmission network.
  • The site is located within a concentration of infrastructure along the M74 corridor, including the motorway, high-voltage overhead lines, transmission gas pipelines, the West Coast Main Line railway and other wind farm development. 

A detailed access review is currently underway to confirm the access routes into the site and it is expected that general construction traffic will access the Site via the M74, B7078, B740 and A702. Access for Abnormal Indivisible Load (AIL) traffic is expected to be direct from the M74 for the part of the site to the north of the M74, and from the B7078/B740 for the remainder of the Site.  Consultation with M6 Autolink , the motorway operator for the M74, is currently being progressed to confirm the most appropriate means of achieving deliveries direct from the M74.

Yes, a community benefit package will be offered.  This will be consulted upon both through our in-person events and a new engagement platform being developed by a specialist third party software designer, BizGive.  This platform will make engagement on community benefits easier, clearer and more transparent.  It is anticipated that this platform will be launched in the coming months.  

Please note that the community benefit fund is independent of the planning process and is not a material consideration in deciding the application.

Get in touch

We are interested in engaging with wind and solar asset owners, land-owners, developers and funders.

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