Applications for onshore Windfarms: FOI release

Information requested

You asked for information of the following:

a). For the period 1st January 2017 to 31st December 2022 how many Applications for onshore Windfarms which have reached a decision has the Scottish Government received?

b). Of these how many have been approved and rejected?

c). Of those which have been rejected what were the main grounds for their refusal?

As the information you have requested is ‘environmental information’ for the purposes of the Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004 (EIRs), we are required to deal with your request under those Regulations. We are applying the exemption at section 39(2) of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (FOISA), so that we do not also have to deal with your request under FOISA.

This exemption is subject to the ‘public interest test’. Therefore, taking account of all the circumstances of this case, we have considered if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exemption. We have found that, on balance, the public interest lies in favour of upholding the exemption, because there is no public interest in dealing with the same request under two different regimes. This is essentially a technical point and has no material effect on the outcome of your request.

 

Response

1. The answer to your question is as follows:

a). Answer 34

b). 30 have been consented and 4 have been refused.

c). Decision letters, containing reasons for the decision, can be found on our website by searching under the project name/reference number (please see 3. below).

2. I enclose a copy of some of the information you requested the attached document ‘List of Determinations - Applications made between 1 January 2017 - 31 December 2022’.

3. Some of the information you have requested (question c.) is available from www.energyconsents.scot. Under regulation 6(1)(b) of the EIRs, we do not have to give you information which is already publicly available and easily accessible to you in another form or format. If, however, you do not have internet access to obtain this information from the website(s) listed, then please contact me again and I will send you a paper copy. You can find the information on the above website by going to the ‘Search’ tab, followed by the ‘Advanced Search’ tab and using input application receipt date range, case type “development”, project type “Wind Farm” and case status type “consented”. Then hit GO for a list of cases, the same can be then be done for “refused”.

About FOI

The Scottish Government is committed to publishing all information released in response to Freedom of Information requests. View all FOI responses at http://www.gov.scot/foi-responses.

List of Determinations - Applications made between 1 January 2017 - 31 December 2022

File type

1 page PDF

File size

88.2 kB