Strathy South

Strathy South wind farm is located to the south of SSE Renewables' operational Strathy North wind farm, approximately 12km to the south of Strathy village.

In November 2021, SSE Renewables was granted consent by Scottish Ministers to construct and operate 35 turbines, known as Strathy South Wind Farm, (with a ground to blade tip maximum height of 200m metres), in lands Strathy, Sutherland.

The Notice of Decision is available to view HERE

An artist’s impression of SSE Renewables’ proposed Strathy South Wind Farm. 

Important Documents

The Section 36c Variation has been determined by Scottish Ministers and all application documents can be found on this webpage via the links below, or on the Scottish Governments Energy Consent Unit's website here, using application reference number ECU00002133.

Planning Application Amendment – April 2023

SSE Renewables has applied for planning consent for alternate access arrangements at Strathy South Wind Farm.

The proposal is to utilise the access track consented for use for the neighbouring Strathy Wood Wind Farm. This would avoid the construction of a new track serving only Strathy South Wind Farm and negates the need for a significant water crossing to be constructed over the river Strathy.

The application documents are available to view on The Highland Council website here. Reference 23/01402/FUL.

Environmental Impact Assessment Documents

The Section 36c Variation has been determined by Scottish Ministers and all application documents can be found found on this webpage via the links below, or on the Scottish Governments Energy Consent Unit's website here, using application reference number ECU00002133.

Supplementary Information - July 2021

The Energy Consents Unit requested a second package of additional environmental information (Supplementary Information) which includes information to address The Highland Council’s representation of no objection to the proposal subject to the removal of T35, T36, T39 and T41.

• Strathy South - Further Information Report - July 2021
• Strathy South Advert - July 2021

Further Information - April 2021

Further information was provided to support the Section 36C variation application submitted to Scottish Ministers in September 2020. This further information included a landscape and visual assessment of the proposed revised cardinal aviation lighting strategy. 

• Further Information - Strathy South Covering Letter

Section 36C Variation Application - August 2020

SSE submitted an application to Scottish Ministers to vary the existing consent for the Strathy South wind Farm, previously granted in April 2018.

Project Background

In 2007 we submitted a proposal to the Scottish Government for a 77 turbine wind farm at Strathy South, an area of commercial forestry plantation, approximately 12km south of Strathy village in north-east Sutherland.

The site lies a few kilometres to the south of our 33 turbine Strathy North wind farm which is now operational. More information on Strathy North wind farm can be found here.

Addendum and Further Information Report
Since our original planning application submission in 2007 we undertook a considerable amount of further work and consultation to address the feedback from consultees and improve the design. As a result of this, we submitted an Addendum to the Scottish Government in July 2013 for a much smaller 47 turbine scheme. This was further reduced to a 39 turbine scheme in 2014. This allowed for an improved design to reduce its environmental impact, particularly on peatland and birds. A copy of the Addendum and subsequent Further Information Report is available to view and download below in the Important Documents section of this webpage. The key changes to the proposal from the Addendum and Further Information Report were as follows:

• Turbine numbers reduced from 77 turbines to 39 turbines
• Maximum turbine 'tip height' increased from 110m to 135m
• Access tracks reduced with better use of existing tracks
• Lay-down areas and borrow pits rationalised and reduced
• Grid route moved out of designations and now routed through Strathy North substation

In addition, we repositioned turbines to avoid sensitive areas such as deep peat, pulled turbines back from the south and east forest edges where possible to increase the distance from nearby designations, increased the buffer from watercourses to 70m, created a bird corridor within the site, and focused our Habitat Management Plan on peatland restoration in and around the site. Visibility within the surrounding area remained minimal, despite the increase in the maximum turbine tip height.

Public Inquiry 
Strathy South went to a public inquiry in 2015. From this, Scottish Ministers consented Strathy South on 27 April 2018.

Market changes and future of the project
The closure of Ofgem’s Renewable Obligation Certificate (ROC) scheme to new onshore wind projects in March 2017 meant that we had to re-evaluate our approach to ensure new projects can succeed without ROCs. Wind turbine technology is continually evolving with larger, more productive and efficient designs which provides options for the development at Strathy South.

In April 2019 we submitted a Scoping Report to explore the opportunity to vary the consent which would enable optimal performance from the site in a modern energy market free of support mechanisms. Scoping reports are voluntary and engage stakeholders prior to any planning application being submitted. The main changes proposed in the Scoping Report include an increased tip height of up to 200m and deletion of 1.2km of access tracks.

Environmental considerations

Our approach
Over the last 10 years a significant amount of environmental survey work has been carried out on the Strathy South proposal. Given its careful approach to development, the extent of work has gone significantly beyond what is required, so that the project could be designed with an abundance of information at hand. SSE has commissioned comprehensive ecological, peat, bird and other studies, and consulted with stakeholders to ensure a thorough knowledge of the site’s characteristics.

The re‐design of the scheme has reduced the total site impact to just 60 hectares from infrastructure and associated indirect effects (including temporary impacts increases this figure to 77.86 ha). We have focused our efforts on both reducing any negative impacts and also creating significant positive impacts from the proposal in the area - specifically the surrounding designations which protect the Flow Country peatlands and important bird species.

Restoring the Flow Country peatlands
In the late 1970s and 1980s, many thousands of hectares of peatland habitat were converted to commercial non-native forestry in the Caithness and Sutherland area. The resulting ploughing and drainage to get trees established caused severe ecological damage and the continuing growth of trees further dries out the peat – degrading not just the peatland but also continuing to impact local wildlife. The conifer plantation on the Strathy South site was planted back to the 1980s and is slow growing. If left untouched, the conifers may take a further 30 years to reach a suitable size to be of market value.

The Strathy South Addendum submitted in 2013, made a commitment to restore and manage peatland by removing the entire conifer plantation within the site boundary. SSE is committed to removing the trees in a manner that facilitates restoration of the peatland. This tree removal, together with measures to raise water levels such as drain blocking, will provide the peatland with a greater chance of recovery than when the forestry is commercially viable to remove in around 30 years time. Without our commitment, the trees will remain to reach a suitable felling size.

The proposed Habitat Management Plan (HMP) for the project will deliver 1,657 hectares of peatland restoration using a variety of techniques and will include the removal of over 1,000 hectares of conifer plantation. A further 231 hectares of peatland management both on and off‐site means the proposed HMP would restore and manage around 1,900 hectares of peatland. SSE has also committed to managing this peatland for the life of the project.

Furthermore, since the Addendum for Strathy South was submitted, SSE has committed to funding peatland management practices on 1,300 hectares outwith the wind farm boundary on the adjacent SPA/SAC. Therefore, directly as a result of this project, around 3,200 ha (12 square miles) of peatland would be restored or managed, delivering one of the largest single peatland restoration and management projects undertaken in the Flow Country. Critically, SSE would not need to do all of this work for mitigation of the wind farm; rather it would be part of our commitment as a responsible developer of renewable energy.

SSE also recognises that this is a long term peatland restoration and management programme, and is committed to this for the 25 year life of the wind farm to prevent the regrowth of the conifers, which would otherwise occur. Furthermore, once the wind farm’s life cycle is over it will be decommissioned, enabling the final phase of restoration to be completed.

Protecting the area's birds
As well as the importance of peatland habitats, they are also home to a wide range of birds, including rarer species such as red-throated diver, black-throated diver, golden eagle, hen harrier, greenshank, golden plover and merlin. This has been a key consideration for us during the development of Strathy South (and Strathy North).

In order to design the site in a way that minimises effects on birds, SSE has gathered as much information as possible on the different species, their characteristics, preferred habitats, nesting and breeding behaviours, and their flight activity around the site. We have collected a substantial amount of bird monitoring data spanning 10 years - going far beyond the statutory requirement of 2 years - and have worked closely with local bird experts including the RSPB, to assess how best to design the site and look at what measures we can put in place to help reduce any negative impacts.