Earlsburn Wind Farm Extension

The Earlsburn Wind Farm Extension is a joint venture between two well-established companies who together have set up a development company - Naturalis Energy Developments Ltd - to develop a portfolio of UK onshore wind and solar assets.

Naturalis is proposing an extension of the existing Earlsburn Wind Farm which sits adjacent to the site on its western boundary, approximately 4km to the south of the Gargunnock. The site sits within the community council boundaries of Cambusbarron and the Carron Valley. The current land use comprises grazing moorland, plantation forestry and blanket bog and this will continue during the life of the wind farm.

This project will take advantage of the excellent wind resource in the area.

Project Background

Naturalis carried out an extensive community and stakeholder consultation programme for our - earlier - 11-turbine proposal with turbines up to 180m to blade tip height, battery energy storage and ancillary infrastructure. The application for consent was submitted under Section 36 of the Electricity Act 1989 to the Energy Consents Unit (ECU) in December 2022 and all documents relating to that planning submission can be viewed on the ECUproject reference is ECU00004510 .

During consultation on the application Historic Environment Scotland objected because of the impacts of the turbines on the views from two scheduled monuments; Carleatheran Cairn and Stirling Castle.

Naturalis has redesigned the proposed development to address HES’s concerns. The new turbine layout is shown on the map to the right.

We have made changes to the project, reducing the number of turbines to 7, all at a lower tip height.

In response to new policies in the National Planning Framework 4 (NPF4), Naturalis have also strengthened the proposed habitat management proposals to enhance biodiversity,

Naturalis will submit Further Environmental Information (FEI) to the ECU to accompany the original Section 36 application. At that stage, there will be another formal consultation period before the proposal is determined. The site layout on the right gives an indication of the project site and the preferred temporary access route to the site from the A811.

The project team will remain responsive to feedback on the proposals.