Project Plan
Discover our vision for Lethans Wind Farm Extension. Learn more about the project, view the designs and other useful project documents.
Design considerations
In 2021 we held a number of public consultations to present our proposed extension to the Lethans Wind Farm in East Ayrshire, which will have a generating capacity of more than 60MW, enough to provide over 80,000 homes, with green electricity per year.
OnPath Energy was granted planning application under Section 36 of the Electricity Act 1989 to the Scottish Government Energy Consents Unit (ECU) for Lethans Wind Farm Extension in August 2024.
The consultation period for the planning application took place throughout 2022, whereby we listened to the views of local people to help develop proposals.
Explore our project documents, or contact a member of the team to learn more about the project.
Timeline
Our path to success
There are many stages involved in developing a wind farm and many opportunities to get involved and have your say. Take a look at the main stages of the process and find out where we currently are in the process.
2020: Pre-planning consultation complete
To gain initial local feedback to help us shape the consultation process tailored to specific community needs.
2021 – 2022: Community consultations complete
Extensive engagement in person and online with the community to gather your views and feedback in the most inclusive and meaningful way.
2021 – 2022 Design process complete
We carefully designed the proposal based on community feedback
2021-2022 Further community consultation complete
We shared our designs with the local community and gather final feedback to shape our planning application.
2022: Planning permission submitted complete
We submitted our proposal under Section 36 of the Electricity Act 1989 to the Scottish Government Energy Consents Unit (ECU) seeking consent for Lethans Wind Farm Extension. The application also applies for a direction under Section 57(2) of the Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1997 for planning permission for the development to be deemed granted.
2024: Planning permission granted complete
Planning permission granted to extend Lethans Wind Farm with an additional 60MW of renewable electricity generation capacity by the Scottish Government Energy Consents Unit (ECU).
Spring 2025: Ground investigation work
We will complete on site ground investigation including boreholes, trial pits and a small amount of tree felling throughout the site to allow us to confirm the detailed design.
2025: Identifying contractors and suppliers progress
We’ll be working with local businesses as much as possible to construct the wind farm and are currently identifying contractors and suppliers.
Features
Lethans Extension
We listened carefully to local residents as well as consulting with East Ayrshire Council and statutory consultees to design the site extension that best aligned with local needs and wishes.
Following strong public engagement with the communities around the development we modified the blueprints, reducing the number of turbines from 11 to 10, and altering the positioning to sit more in line with the natural contours of the landscape.
We were humbled by the level of local support there was to help shape the proposal. By working together, we believe that this – and other projects in the region – can truly begin to deliver the positive legacies that local people want and deserve.
Robin Winstanley Sustainability and External Affairs Manager, The Banks Group.
Large turbines at the site
How are taller turbines more efficient?
The proposed turbines at the Lethans Extension Wind Farm will be the largest onshore wind turbines in the UK. This enables much greater efficiencies in the generation of wind-powered electricity. The higher the efficiency, the more energy is generated, enabling lower household bills and providing more benefits to the local community.
Tall turbines are able to capture less inhibited wind flows and higher wind speeds meaning the turbines can reach maximum output more often. The additional height also allows for a larger rotor diameter giving a larger power capture area and again increasing the energy production.
By having more efficient and more powerful turbines, we can keep the total number of turbines onsite to a minimum. This leads to a lower cost of energy to build and even more benefits shared with the local community.
Lethans consented wind farm
A variation to increase efficiency
Our consented plans will reduce the height of the turbine towers across the Lethans and Lethans Extension Wind Farm projects by approximately four metres, which will enable longer turbine blades to be installed without increasing the overall tip heights of the turbines. This will allow the use of more efficient turbines, potentially increasing the amount of renewable energy that can be generated.
- Total height to tip – same
- Hub heights – reduced
- Blade length – increased by 4m
We are able to take advantage of new technology as it evolves over time, moving nearer to the point the consented wind farm is to be built.
The purpose of this variation is to deploy this technology to increase the efficiency of the turbines, which should result in a higher yield.
At this stage we don’t know if this will increase the total output of the site, but it allows for this to happen at a future date if feasible.
Indicative project plan
Planning for construction
During construction we will look to minimise disruption to communities in the direct vicinity of the site and along the main access routes. We will do this by minimising deliveries during peak times and, where possible, limiting intrusive on-site activities during the hours of darkness.
With all of the above we will work closely with the local community to minimise any impact. Examples of feedback that are useful for us include school bus timings, normal pick up points and information about local events such as hot air balloon shows, or firework displays where footfall and on street parking will be busier than normal. Access to the site will be limited during construction based on safety considerations, but we will work closely with the local community to determine an access approach that takes their views into consideration.
- Construction will take place between the hours of 7am to 7pm Monday to Friday, 7am to 1pm on Saturday.
- No working will take place on Sunday or Bank Holidays.
- If any work is proposed outside of these times, for example in the delivery of abnormal loads, the contractor will seek prior approval from East Ayrshire Council and local residents will be notified.
You can view our indicative project plan in the project documents below.