Today the Equitable Energy Research Report on Onshore Wind Repowering is finally published, discussing the “Opportunities for Community Wealth Building in Argyll and Bute – and Beyond” (available below).
The Repowering of Cruach Mhor Windfarm is a central part of the repowering puzzle in Scotland, and therefore the results of the discussions our community has at the meeting on June 14th will be anticipated with great interest – it seems Scotland will be watching!
The SLWG has contributed in small part to the report and we have emphasized throughout, that we are a community-led group which, notwithstanding the wider conversation about onshore wind, repowering and climate change, will represent and advocate for the decisions made by the residents of ColGlen.
Here is what the report says about the Cruach Mhor Repowering Project:
Located on the Cowal Peninsula, Cruach Mhor (30 MW) was commissioned in 2004 and consists of 35 turbines, with a total capacity of 29 MW, around 90% of which is situated on FLS land. When Scottish Power’s FLS lease came up for renewal, Cowal Community Energy (CCE) – a consortium of local development trusts – lodged a bid for the site but was unsuccessful, losing out to Belltown Power. The Scottish Government’s decision to introduce the FLS pilot scheme (page 25) appears to be an acknowledgement that communities cannot compete directly on an equal commercial basis with more experienced and better-financed commercial developers.
The successful bidder Belltown Power is however offering what they describe as “a unique and groundbreaking” shared ownership scheme supporting “genuine buy-in” and “real community/developer partnerships.”57 This scheme involves:
• Donating 1% ownership of their onshore wind projects to local communities;
• Offering an additional 4% ownership at cost value;
• The option for local communities to buy additional ownership shares at market value – up to 44% according to local community groups in Cowal,58 which would equate to up to 49% total ownership with local communities.
At the time of writing, the relationship between CCE – whose members represent the wider Cowal peninsula including Colintraive and Glendaruel (ColGlen) Development Trust – and the ColGlen community council and historic wind farm trust was still under consideration. As of early 2026, ColGlen was understood to still be considering whether to negotiate directly with Belltown Power, or to support CCE in negotiating on their behalf, collectively with the wider Cowal community. How this is resolved will significantly affect how much of the repowering value flows to residents living in the immediate vicinity of the windfarm and the wider region. Having been a test case for a community attempt at repowering, Cruach Mhor looks set to become an important test case for shared ownership.
Here is a link to the full report.
