Pencloe Wind Farm Funding Boost to 9CC Group

Invenergy, the company bringing forward the Pencloe Wind Farm project in East Ayrshire, have now signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) agreement with the 9CC Group in East Ayrshire for the distribution and management of Community Benefit Funds released from the project once it is operational.

In December 2018, Scottish Ministers granted consent for a development consisting of 19 wind turbines, with a height of 125m to blade tip, and associated infrastructure close to Pencloe Farm, New Cumnock in East Ayrshire. In June 2019, a Section 36c application was submitted to ask Scottish Ministers for permission for all turbines to be built at a height not exceeding 149.9m to blade tip. In August 2021, Scottish Ministers approved the Section 36c variation application for Pencloe Wind Farm and Invenergy are currently preparing for the construction phase of the development and expect to be on-site later this year.

A Community Benefit Fund of £5,000 per MW per annum has been agreed with local communities and will be managed by the 9CC, which comprises the nine community councils across Cumnock and the Doon Valley, to fairly allocate and distribute the fund throughout the local community. This will now be index-linked, meaning the Community Benefit will be linked to inflation throughout the lifetime of the project.

Stuart Winter, Vice-President and UK Country Manager of Invenergy said;

Pencloe Wind Farm has committed to providing Community Benefit of £5,000 per MW annually (index linked) to communities in the local area. Based on the 2018 consent our annual fund would equate to £427,500. This funding, managed by the 9CC could lead to transformational change within the local area during the lifespan of the project.

We are a leading privately-held global developer of sustainable energy solutions, headquartered in the USA. Invenergy and its affiliated companies develop, own, and operate large-scale sustainable energy generation and storage facilities in the Americas, Europe and Asia. ‘

Alex Baird, Chairman of the 9CC Group said;

‘Following our official 9CC Launch in October, we are delighted that Pencloe is the second of many projects we will sign an MoU for to give us an awareness and security of future funds into the area. The 9CC Group was established to join forces of all community councils within the wider area with the aim to become a dedicated single Trust for wind farm developments and future community benefits in the area, which are set to be of a major scale across coming years.

The 9CC Group aims to ensure fair distribution of wind farm community benefits funds borne out of these developments. We have a real opportunity here to create transformational change within the area and I hope to be able to lead the right team to the right decisions on how we improve this place we all call home.’

Notes to Editors

● Invenergy's head office is located in Chicago, and our UK head office is based in Edinburgh. Globally, Invenergy has successfully developed more than 29,000 megawatts of projects that are in operation, construction or contracted, including wind, solar, and natural gas power generation facilities as well as advanced energy storage projects.

● In the UK, Invenergy has developed in the order of 310MWs of renewable energy. Our Scottish portfolio is managed by their regional office in Edinburgh. Other projects include Corriegarth Wind Farm and Bettyhill Wind Farm.

● The 9CC Group, comprised of the community councils of Auchinleck, Cumnock, Netherthird, Cronberry - Logan & Lugar (CLL), New Cumnock, Dalmellington, Patna, Drongan - Rankinston & Stair (DRS) and Ochiltree & Skares.

● The 9CC Group is a legally constituted group which will manage and distribute community benefit funds through a fair and equitable method of allocation and distribution. However we welcome the feedback and opinions of all who live and work under our umbrella. That is the point of today’s launch event, to let people know we are here, we are working hard for you and we will listen to what these communities need to flourish.

For more information about the project visit the website at www.pencloe.com