EDF Energy

The French connection 29/8/10

A French government-owned company has the right of veto over local development on a tract of crofters grazings on Lewis.

It raises the prospect of crofters privately talking about fighting Paris-headquartered corporation Électricité de France, known as EDF Energy, in court. The French state owns about 85% of the former nationalised corporation which is now the world’s largest utility.

EDF is collaborating with engineering giant Amec to build a massive wind farm on Lewis. The partnership is operated through a joint firm called Lewis Windpower (LWP). LWP previously attempted to build the world’s biggest wind farm across Lewis but was refused planning permission on environmental grounds.

Crofters now have to seek permission from EDF and Amec, because it holds a lease for up to 70 years, before building even a single community wind turbine on their traditional grazings.

One tiny scheme proposed by Melbost and Branahuie faces this problem. Even funding for initial feasibility studies may be hampered.

The latest plans has resulted in anger in some quarters against the community-controlled Stornoway Trust which has effectively handed control of acres of common pasture land to the huge developers.

Two trustees have quit the body’s renewables’ sub-committee in a linked controversy. Donald Crichton and Murdo Murray took issue with the panel’s chairman Bert Frater. Mr Frater had publicly criticised community energy group Point Power and its paid consultant, former Labour MP, Calum Macdonald over their allegations the Trust hindered community wind schemes and failed to consult with crofters.

LWP hope to build to 50 giant wind turbines in a £200 million scheme on the south west outskirts of Stornoway. The stretch of land is on grazings used by various villages in Point and Sandwick on the east side of the town The pasture was allocated decades ago to make up for the lack of accessible grazings around the villages.

If 90 megawatts is consented then community benefit - excluding land rent - would be around £360,000 annually.

But critics point out that 25-times more profit would be generated for local projects from community-owned turbines which each have an average return of £100,000 yearly.

The Stornoway Trust has signed a fresh deal giving the LWP a legal right to block villages building their own small scale community turbines. But crofters could oppose taking the land out of crafting tenure which would mean the issue ends up with the Land Court.

Following a showdown between both sides crofting representative Donnie Macdonald expressed “puzzlement at the Trust’s refusal to consider proceeding with a Trust-owned wind farm where they might be afforded the full support of the community and where all of the income generated would remain in the community.”

Stornoway Trust factor Iain MacIver said the body was always willing to discuss the LWP wind farm proposal and other issues affecting grazing committees.