Community Benefit

Community Benefit Fund

ERG uses a non-subsidised renewables model, coupled with the aim that local communities should benefit from its projects.  For our Scotland projects to date, including our consented Sandy Knowe Wind Farm, substantial Community Benefit Funds will share up to £5,000 per MW of installed capacity with the local communities, in line with Scottish Government policy.

Community Ownership

Burcote Wind ERG/ has been in discussion with representatives of Sanquhar Community Council and Kirkconnel and Kelloholm Community Council to prepare a shared ownership scheme for their wind farm based on the guidelines in the Scottish Government’s “Good Practice Guide for Shared Ownership of Onshore Renewable Energy Developments. The ownership model proposed is the “Shared Revenue” model. The Company has offered the Community the opportunity to invest the equivalent of up to 1/24th of the total investment of the project in return for an equivalent share of the net profit from the project. the Community’s share will be up to 1/24th of the annual net profit of the wind farm.

Our Partners

• Kirkconnel and Kelloholm Community Council
• Sanquhar Community Council

Sandy Knowe Community Development Plan – https://sandyknowewindfarm.files.wordpress.com/2013/02/2014-sandy-knowe-community-development-plan.pdf

Local Procurement Partnership

At Sandy Knowe, an additional Community Shared Ownership model means that 5 percent of the net profits of the wind farm will be shared back into the community every year. ERG’s Local Procurement Partnership also affords local contractors a 5% price advantage when tendering for contracts on its wind farms.

We have also signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Scotland’s only turbine tower manufacturer, CS Wind (www.cswinduk.com), to work together on our Scottish projects, retaining as much investment within Scotland as possible.

Burcote Wind/ERG, alongside the Dumfries & Galloway Chamber of Commerce and Dumfries and Galloway College, hosted a Business Breakfast in November last year which invited interested local businesses to discuss procurement opportunities and beneficial procurement policies available on Burcote and ERG projects in Dumfries and Galloway. Following the Breakfast event, Burcote and ERG asked for local companies to complete a Company Information Request to register their interest in working on the Sandy Knowe development. Twenty local businesses from a range of industries across Dumfries & Galloway have now pre-registered and will be able to tender for contracts relating to the construction of Sandy Knowe Wind Farm.  The company again hosted a Business Event in January 2019 to meet further local businesses interested in tendering for contracts during the construction period of the wind farm. A local event was held in Kirkconnel whilst a regional event was held in Dumfries the following day. 

In January 2019, ERG awarded the first contract to commence works on the site to Dumfries based AMD Contract Services Ltd. AMD Contracts Services Ltd has been operating since 1967 and initially operated solely within the agricultural sector but has since continually expanded and diversified, first into the Forestry Market in the late 1990’s in response to local demand and then a further step was made into the Construction Industry.

Marco Tiberi, Project Manager at ERG said:-“We are delighted to have award our first civil contract on the Sandy Knowe Wind Farm to AMD Contracts Services Ltd . Throughout the process, we have been committed to promoting close cooperation with local businesses who can support both the construction and operational phases of the project.

Over 30 local contractors registered their interest in January for future tenders. We hope to begin initial discussions with these businesses towards the end of 2019. 

The relationship between the Sandy Knowe Wind Farm and the communities of Upper Nithsdale has been strong since the early engagement in 2011. If the updated application is consented, we will generate a greater amount of green electricity within the existing footprint, and greater levels of community benefit, with no increase in turbine numbers or physical size.”