Montreal: Green energy firms Infinergy and Boralex welcomed the Scottish Government's decision June 24 to grant approval of their 21-turbine wind farm at Limekiln, south of Reay in Caithness. The wind farm has a grid connection contract in place for 90 MW.
Infinergy and Boralex will use the coming months to determine the most suitable turbine for this location, making use of the latest progress in wind turbine technology. Full construction works are expected to start in 2021 and the partners plan to have the site in full operation before the end of 2022. The wind farm will provide sufficient electricity to meet the needs of at least 39,500 homes based on the average generation mix of UK power sources.
In order to optimize the financing of this project, Infinergy and Boralex are exploring signing corporate power purchase agreements (PPA).
Limekiln Wind Farm comes with a community benefit fund of £5000 ($CAN 8,400) per MW of installed capacity, equating to at least £315,000 ($CAN 529,000) per year or nearly £8 million over the lifetime of the development (based on 3 MW turbines). In addition, up to 10% of the project will be made available to the local community as a shared ownership opportunity, giving the potential to increase the economic value of the wind farm across Caithness.