The Cabrach Trust writes to Quebec-based Boralex
Canadian firm cited in parliamentary debate on energy projects
Plans attract widespread UK national media attention
A letter from The Cabrach Trust, a community led project, in the Scottish Highlands to Canadian energy giant Boralex about its plans for a new windfarm have been raised in a Scottish Parliament debate about the impact of energy projects.
The debate last month (January 22) was led by Conservative MSP Douglas Lumsden who mentioned the Boralex project after stories appeared in major UK newspapers the previous weekend about a letter sent to company bosses from the local regeneration trust.
Quebec-based Boralex hopes to develop the Clashindarroch Extension scheme in The Cabrach area of the Scottish Highlands to build 22 wind turbines and a battery energy storage facility. The area already has 78 turbines operational within a six miles radius, and a further 21 consented.
Boralex, which last year posted revenues of CA$1.02bn (£580m) but has recently announced quarterly losses of CA$14 million (£7.9 million), took over the project when it acquired the UK interests of European energy company Infinergy in July 2022. It has now formed a joint venture with site owner Dr Christopher Moran, the London-based businessman and Conservative Party donor.
Last year, The Cabrach Trust, the charity established in 2013 to safeguard the fragile community and preserve its cultural heritage, wrote to Boralex Chief Executive Patrick Decostre, and has now written to Boralex’s UK Country Director, Esbjorn Wilmar, to seek further clarification about the company’s commitment to corporate social responsibility and community engagement.
In his letter to Mr Wilmar, Cabrach Trust Chief Executive Jonathan Christie wrote: “We feel strongly there is acute over-provision of wind turbines around our remote and fragile community, and further expansion, such as planned by Boralex, is at odds with our ambitions to regenerate the area in a way which is sensitive and in harmony with its landscape, community, and history.”
The company’s environmental mission statement promises to “foster an open dialogue with our host communities, listen to their concerns and take them into account in our environmental response.”
In October, Scotland’s Deputy First Minster, Kate Forbes, inaugurated the The Cabrach Trust’s £5m Cabrach Distillery & Heritage Centre, part a wider programme of community regeneration initiatives.
