Plans for a wind farm in Aberdeenshire are set to face legal action from a conservation group concerned about wildcat protection.
Swedish power company Vattenfall received approval for its 77MW Clashindarroch II wind farm in June last year.
Located near Huntly, the wind farm will include 14 turbines with a tip height of around 590ft, generating enough electricity to power 55,000 homes.
The project is close to another wind farm operated by Vattenfall, which features 18 turbines and was completed in 2015 at a cost of around £62 million.
© Supplied by VattenfallHowever, conservation group Wildcat Haven fears it could endanger the local wildcat population and has pursued a judicial review of the approval.
The petition is set to be heard on Thursday, January 18 at the Court of Session in Edinburgh.
Wildcat Haven director Paul O’Donoghue told BBC Scotland News the wind farm would be “potentially catastrophic” for the animals.
“Wildcat Haven is absolutely pro-renewables, but it’s all about the right development for the right site and this is clearly the wrong development at the wrong site,” Mr O’Donoghue said.
According to Vattenfall’s website, plans for its wind farm includes “measures to protect and enhance important wildcat habitats within Clashindarroch Forest, to ensure that there is no loss of shelter and denning opportunities as a result of the construction of the wind farm”.
© Supplied by VattenfallEnergy Voice has contacted Vattenfall for comment.
The Scottish wildcat is listed as critically endangered and a 2019 report by NatureScot determined the wild population in Scotland is “no longer viable”.
In June last year, the Saving Wildcats project released 22 wildcats into the Cairngorms National Park in the first-ever translocation of wildcats in Britain.
Approximately sixty wildcats will be released over the next three years as part of efforts to save the species from extinction within Scotland.
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