Wind Turbines in Scotland: EIR release

Information requested

How many wind turbines (on shore) in Scotland? Conflicting information online.

Response

Firstly, although you had requested information under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002(FOISA), as the information you had 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.

Please see table below on the number of onshore wind turbines in Scotland by planning stage, of which 4,007 are operational as at the end of March 2023 :

Planning Stage	Count of No. of Turbines
Under Construction	363
Operational	4,007
Awaiting Construction	969
Application Submitted	1,221

These figures have been sourced from the Renewable Energy Planning Database maintained by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ): Renewable Energy Planning Database: quarterly extract - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk). Please note that there was a minimum installed capacity threshold for inclusion into the REPD of 1MW until 2021, at which point it was lowered to 150kW. This means that projects below 1MW that were going through the planning system before 2021 may not be represented in the REPD database. Despite the limitations in the data provided by DESNZ, we consider this to be the most reliable source for this data.

In addition, there will be a number of domestic wind turbines installed in the curtilage of dwelling houses which did not require an application for planning permission, and are therefore not included in these statistics.

Whilst roof mounted domestic wind turbines would be subject to a planning application, class 6G of the Town and Country Planning General Permitted Development (Scotland) Order (As amended) allows for the installation, alteration or replacement of a free-standing micro wind turbine within the curtilage of a dwelling.Consent is conveyed by the legislation, rather than a planning application. It is possible for a ground mounted turbine below 50kw generating capacity to be erected without a planning application where:

• the installed micro wind turbine is not less than 100 metres from the curtilage of another dwelling
• development is not permitted if it would result in more than one micro wind turbine within the curtilage of a dwelling
• development is not permitted within a conservation area, a World Heritage Site, a site of special scientific interest, a site of archaeological interest, or within the curtilage of a listed building.

This may help explain some of the conflicting figures that you have found online.

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.