negligible BENEFIT

•Negligible local economic benefit (with lots of disruption).

•Negligible benefit to Scottish economy.

•Negligible benefit to the UK economy.

•No benefit to electricity consumers (in fact, it will increase bills).

Negligible local economic benefit.

•Construction jobs will be temporary (Galileo/Empower estimate 2yrs for the construction phase 2031-2033). 

•Only 5 Full time equivalent jobs* are likely to be created during the operational phase of the project, and these will probably be in a central location in the UK, not local.

•Galileo/Empower are offering a community fund of £5000 per installed MW (the minimum recommended by the Scottish Government).  The Feughside Community would overwhelmingly prefer to preserve their environment rather than accept this money.

•Galileo/Empower estimate 190 job years created during the 2 year construction phase – i.e. 95/yr.  Most will be “civils contractors” engaged in building access roads, foundations for turbines, substations and other onsite buildings etc.  Some will be specialists – crane operators, electrical connection engineers etc.  It is unclear how many will be sourced in Aberdeenshire and how many will move in temporarily from elsewhere.

•The benefits from this temporary influx of jobs need to be set against the disruption caused by HGV traffic, competition for accommodation etc.  Peak construction will be during the summer months – the peak tourist season.