Industry Eye: Professional advice is very necessary before taking steps into a windfarm project

On January 8, the Crown Estate announced the successful bidders for each of the nine Round 3 offshore wind farm development zones. Construction is expected to start in 2014, to require up to £75bn of investment and, when completed, to generate up to 32 gigawatts of power by 2020 – a quarter of the UK's electricity needs.
By The Newsroom
Published 19th Feb 2010, 14:24 BST
Updated 19th Feb 2010, 14:24 BST

If completed, this massive investment will make a major contribution to the UK's target of sourcing 15 per cent of its energy from renewable sources by 2020. However this development is not expected to detract from or lessen the continuing commercial and governmental encouragement for the roll-out of onshore wind farms. These will continue to offer a lucrative diversification opportunity for landowners.

You may have been contacted by a developer with a proposal. This approach may have been unsolicited. Alternatively, you may already have investigated the suitability of your land holding – and if so you will have taken steps to ascertain to what extent it satisfies the main planning criteria for onshore wind farm developments: Conservation, disturbance to air traffic and radar, proximity of roads and houses and construction of new transmission lines.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

You will have established that one of the important conservation issues is their effect on bird and bat populations. Last March's RSPB Report was notable for its public support for a managed increase in wind farms in suitable locations.

However recent press reports on studies of their effect on upland bird populations (buzzards, curlews, red grouse and golden plovers) indicate that this issue continues to be highly sensitive.

Any developer will wish to carry out its own feasibility studies but will insist that you enter into an exclusivity agreement giving it an exclusive right to carry out these initial tests and enquiries or 'scoping' for a period of one to two years.

The cardinal rule is never to sign any such document (which may be presented to you in what appears to be a simple letter type format) without first seeking professional advice. Developers tend to have their own standard exclusivity, option and lease agreements. These are not intended to favour you.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

You need expert advice not only on the payments which may be payable through the exclusivity period but also on the other contents of the agreement, covering issues such as duration and the activities to be conducted by the developer. These activities will mean giving the developer rights of access and may include the erection of one or more anemometer masts for the collection of wind speed data and intrusive ground condition investigations.

You need to ensure that the developer complies with statutory requirements and will not impact on your relationship with the Rural Payments Agency.

You will need this advice to ensure the agreement affords you reasonable comfort and protections both to reflect the fact that you are tying up the site during the exclusivity period and will not be able to entertain any approaches from any other developer for its duration and to secure and cater for the carrying on of your usual farming activities in the mean-time.

Stephen Unwin is a partner in the real estate department of law firm Andrew Jackson. Tel: 01482 325242, e-mail

[email protected]