'Buy Scottish' Policy
At Community Windpower (CWL), we are deeply committed to working with Scotland to increase renewable energy development and deployment, to tackle climate change and boost the economy.
What is our ‘Buy Scottish' Policy?
As part of our commitment to Scotland, we proudly incorporate a ‘Buy Scottish’ policy into all our projects, whereby we seek to partner with local businesses whenever possible. This has allowed us to work closely with and support many Scottish civil, electrical and engineering contractors, as well as other businesses to develop, construct and operate our wind farms.
Past and Present Partnerships
CWL has recently awarded Scottish Company, RJ McLeod, the main contract to undertake civil engineering works for the 30MW Sneddon Law Community Wind Farm in East Ayrshire.
Commenting of the significance of the deal, Bruce Clark, Joint Managing Director at RJ McLeod, said: “We’re delighted to be awarded the contract to construct Sneddon Law Community Wind Farm. This is our fourth project with Community Windpower who recognise the skills and experience of our staff and operatives as well as our track record of using local resources and we look forward to jointly delivering this important energy asset.”
To ensure that our wind farms cause minimal disturbance to surrounding wildlife, CWL have also partnered with Starling Learning, an ecological, environmental education and conservation management consultancy based in Lochwinnoch, Renfrewshire.
Reflecting on our close working relationship, Liz Parsons, the CEO at Starling Learning stated: “This continuing flow of work has greatly enabled our small company (Starling Learning) to grow, and indeed continue to exist when many other ecological consultancies have struggled in recent years.”
To assist with constructing our Sanquhar Hill Community Wind Farm, we partnered with Scottish construction company, AMD Contract Services LTD.
Discussing the significance of our working partnership with the company, Fraser Dykes, Director at AMD Contract Services, stated that: “Thanks to renewable energy projects, and in particular the work we were involved in on Sanquhar Community Wind Farm, we have not only survived the recession but have seen our company expand and develop, and through this opportunity, we have been able to provide a significant boost to the local economy and train up members of the local community”.
As part of Community Windpower’s longstanding commitment to its host communities, we also endeavour to support local community interest groups. Of note, our recent partnership with Dumfries-based non-profit organisation, Let’s Get Sporty, has resulted in over 1,400 school pupils across Dumfriesshire being provided with 2,000 hours of free sports lessons.
Dayne Moore, coordinator at Let’s Get Sporty, said: “Delivering these sessions (funded by CWL) to the schools has been a fantastic opportunity and the pupils have really enjoyed getting involved in various sporting activities. The funding from Community Windpower has provided a great opportunity for these pupils and this has been a great partnership with many benefits to the local schools.”
Meet the Buyer
We have also hosted a series of ‘Meet the Buyer’ events across Southern Scotland. These have assisted us in identifying local businesses to partner with for the construction and operational periods of our projects. We will be holding similar events for our three proposed developments, Sanquhar II, Faw Side, and Scoop Hill Community Wind Farms.
Mr G Money, Commercial Director of Barr Quarries who attended a 'Meet the Buyer' event said:
“The Meet the Buyer event provided our business with the platform to learn more about the projects and the potential opportunities they can create for our products and services.
It was a great opportunity to discuss our capabilities with senior project and supply chain personnel from Community Windpower as well as to network with other local suppliers and Dumfries and Galloway Council.”
What does the future hold?
Currently, CWL has eight operational wind farms in Scotland, with an additional wind farm under construction (Sneddon Law). To date, we have invested over £500 million in Scotland, with this figure predicted to increase to £2 billion by 2025 should our three next-generation schemes be consented (Sanquhar II, Faw Side, and Scoop Hill Community Wind Farms).
As we continue our mission to champion sustainable power, we also remain fully committed to our ‘Buy Scottish' Policy, ensuring that local Scottish businesses and communities continue to receive the financial support and economic investment they deserve
