Onshore windfarm and turbines statistics: EIR release
Information request and response under the Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004
Information requested
The name of each wind farm + number of turbines in each local authority in scoping/scoped.
The name of each wind farm + number of turbines in each local authority submitted as an application.
The number of turbines in each local authority area.
The number of turbines per square kilometre in each local authority area.
The number of turbines per capita in each local authority area.
Response
I attach a copy of most of the information you requested in two spreadsheets.
The first spreadsheet is a list of the onshore wind applications made to the Energy Consents Unit, which includes the local authority and the number of turbines for each site. The second spreadsheet includes the reference numbers for planned electricity generation sites provided to us by local authorities, however does not include the name of each site, nor the technology (onshore wind etc.) being planned.
This is all the information that the Scottish Government holds on planned wind farms. Additional information may be available from the Renewable Energy Planning Database, published by BEIS, available here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/renewable-energy-planning-database-monthly-extract.
Regarding your request for the number of turbines, turbine density, and turbines per capita for each local authority, this is not information that the Scottish Government normally holds. Under the terms of the exception at regulation 10(4)(a) of the EIRs (information not held), the Scottish Government is not required to provide information which it does not have. However, this information can be calculated from other sources, all of which are publicly available. The Renewable Energy Planning Database mentioned above, population estimates published by National Records Scotland, and Standard Area Measurements (2016) for Administrative Areas in the United Kingdom, published by the Office for National Statistics.
In this case, for convenience, the third spreadsheet collates this data to calculate the information you requested, and includes hyperlinks to the data sources mentioned. However, should you require an update in the future and are unable to find the publicly available figures, you will need to approach the authorities named above directly as this is not data the Scottish Government collects.
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.
Contact
Please quote the FOI reference
Central Enquiry Unit
Email: ceu@gov.scot
Phone: 0300 244 4000
The Scottish Government
St Andrews House
Regent Road
Edinburgh
EH1 3DG
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