The Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) will also consider the potential effects of the construction and operation of the Proposed Development on other matters, such as noise, aviation and radar, telecommunications and electronic interference, climate and carbon balance and forestry.
Noise
Noise levels from operation of the turbines have been predicted for those locations around the Site most likely to be affected by noise. Noise limits have been derived following the simplified assessment method stipulated in national planning guidance. Predicted operational noise levels have been compared to the limit values to demonstrate that turbines of the type and size which would be installed can operate within the limits so derived.
It is considered that operational noise levels from the wind farm will be within levels recommended in national guidance for wind energy schemes.
The potential effects of the Proposed Development on noise and vibration will be addressed fully in the EIA Report.
Aviation and radar
The potential effects of the Proposed Development on aviation and radar will be addressed fully in the EIA Report, however, no aviation issues are apparent.
Telecommunications and electronic interference
Wind turbines can potentially cause interference to telecommunication system signals, such as terrestrial fixed microwave links, terrestrial radio telemetry links and television broadcasts through reflecting and shadowing telecommunication signals between transmitters and receivers.
Only telecommunication links which travel across the site and close to the wind turbine locations have the potential to be impacted by the Proposed Development.
Telecommunications stakeholders have been re-consulted in relation to the proposed layout and following previous consultee feedback in which they either advised that there would not be an impact on any of their assets or mitigation would be possible.
Climate and carbon balance
Increasing atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases (GHGs) are resulting in global heating which will cause catastrophic changes to our climate. A major contributor of GHG emissions is the burning of fossil fuels such as natural gas for electricity generation. The benefit of wind energy is that no GHGs are produced during the generation of renewable electricity. However, there will be emissions resulting from the manufacture and transport of the turbines, as well as the site construction and decommissioning. In addition to these, where a wind farm is located on carbon rich soils such as peat, there are emissions resulting from the direct action of excavating peat for construction and the indirect changes to hydrology that can result in losses of soil carbon.
The Scottish Government has supported the development of a Carbon Calculator for wind farms on peat. This tool estimates the time that it will take for a proposed development to payback the emissions produced during its construction, through the generation of zero carbon electricity that displaces fossil fuel generated electricity in the grid. The results of this assessment will be reported in the Environmental Impact Assessment Report (EIAR).
As part of the design process, the wind turbines have been sited to avoid the areas of deepest peat as far as practicable, and measures to minimise peat disturbance, especially during excavation, will be implemented. To minimise peat disturbance in construction and decommissioning, best practice measures will be provided at the construction phase as part of a Construction Environmental Management Plan.
Forestry
It is proposed that access to the site for construction traffic and turbine deliveries would be taken directly off the A85 via Fearnoch Forest. Some limited felling in the forest will be required for track widening to facilitate the delivery of abnormal loads during construction of the Proposed Development.
Commercial forestry is not regarded as a receptor for EIA purposes as they are dynamic and their structure continually undergoes change due to normal felling and restocking by the landowner; natural events, such as windblow, pests or diseases; and external factors, such as a wind farm development. Potential impacts on other factors, such as biodiversity, resulting from changes to the forestry baseline will be assessed in the EIA Report.