EDINBURGH, Scotland, July 17 (UPI) -- The Scottish government said it remains committed to wind energy development but not at the cost of residual effects to the landscape.
Scottish Energy Minister Fergus Ewing said the government denied a permit for a proposed wind farm in the Scottish Highlands.
Druim Ba Sustainable Energy Ltd. had proposed the construction of a 23-turbine wind farm capable of generating 69 megawatts of energy.
The Scottish government said planning consent was denied because "the number and height of the turbines would appear out of scale with the surrounding landscape and it would have significant adverse landscape and visual impacts."
The government said it has approved one offshore wind and 32 onshore wind projects since 2007. Scotland has one of the most ambitious renewable energy plans in the world, striving to generate all of its domestic electricity needs from renewable resources by 2020.
"I am determined to ensure communities all over Scotland reap the benefit from renewable energy, but not at any cost and we will ensure a balanced approach in taking forward this policy, as we have in the past and will in future," Ewing said in a statement Tuesday.
