Ben Aketil Wind Farm

Ben Aketil Wind Farm is situated on sloping heather moorland to the north of Ben Aketil which forms part of the MacLeod Estate in the NW of the Isle of Skye, 4 miles (6.5 km) east of Dunvegan. The altitude of the site varies between 90m (295 feet) and 200m (656 feet) and the farm comprises a line of twelve German-built Enercon E-70 turbines, each rated at 2.3 MW giving a maximum generation capacity of 27.6 MW. Each turbine is mounted on a 64-m (210-foot) tower and has a blade diameter of 71m (233 feet), giving a height to blade-tip of 100m (328 feet). Developed by West Coast Energy Ltd. and built by Morrison Construction, planning permission was granted in 2005 and work began the following year. The farm was commissioned in December 2007 at a cost of £29.8 million. The turbines begin generation at wind speeds of 4 m/sec and cut out for reasons of safety at 31 m/sec.

The wind farm is owned and operated by Ben Aketil Wind Energy Ltd., which is a subsidiary of Falck Renewables Plc. A co-operative was established to allow local people to invest in the project and a community trust fund also distributes grants of up to £35,000 per year to benefit the local community for the lifetime of the wind farm.

The Copenhagen-based investment fund PensionDanmark took a 49% share in this wind farm in 2014.


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