Scout Moor Wind Farm is the second largest onshore

wind farm A wind farm, also called a wind park or wind power plant, is a group of wind turbines in the same location used to produce electricity. Wind farms vary in size from a small number of turbines to several hundred wind turbines covering an exten ...

in England. The wind farm, which was built for Peel Wind Power Ltd, produces electricity from 26

Nordex Nordex SE is a European company that designs, sells and manufactures wind turbines, founded in 1985 and headquartered in the German city of Rostock with production in Germany, Brazil, India, Mexico, Poland and Spain. According to the company, it ...

N80

wind turbine A wind turbine is a device that wind power, converts the kinetic energy of wind into electrical energy. , hundreds of thousands of list of most powerful wind turbines, large turbines, in installations known as wind farms, were generating over ...

s. It has a total

nameplate capacity Nameplate capacity, also known as the rated capacity, nominal capacity, installed capacity, maximum effect or gross capacity,MW of electricity, providing 154,000

MW·h A kilowatt-hour ( unit symbol: kW⋅h or kW h; commonly written as kWh) is a non-SI unit of energy equal to 3.6 megajoules (MJ) in SI units, which is the energy delivered by one kilowatt of power for one hour. Kilowatt-hours are a commo ...

per year; enough to serve the average needs of 40,000 homes. The site occupies of open

moorland Moorland or moor is a type of Habitat (ecology), habitat found in upland (geology), upland areas in temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands and the biomes of montane grasslands and shrublands, characterised by low-growing vegetation on So ...

between

Edenfield Edenfield is a village within the Rossendale borough of Lancashire, England. Lying on the River Irwell, it is around north of Ramsbottom, south of Rawtenstall, and west of Norden, and has a total population of 2,080, reducing to 2,053 at ...

Rawtenstall Rawtenstall () is a town in the borough of Borough of Rossendale, Rossendale, Lancashire, England. The town lies 15 miles (24 km) north of Manchester, 22 miles (35 km) east of Preston, Lancashire, Preston and 45 miles (70 km) south east of Lanca ...

and

Rochdale Rochdale ( ) is a town in Greater Manchester, England, and the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale. In the United Kingdom 2021 Census, 2021 Census, the town had a population of 111,261, compared to 223,773 for the wid ...

, and is split between the

Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale The Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale is a metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester in England. Its largest town is Rochdale and the wider borough covers other outlying towns and villages, including Heywood, Greater Manchester, Heywood, Littleb ...

in northern

Greater Manchester Greater Manchester is a ceremonial county in North West England. It borders Lancashire to the north, Derbyshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Cheshire to the south, and Merseyside to the west. Its largest settlement is the city of Manchester. ...

and the

Borough of Rossendale Rossendale () is a Non-metropolitan district, local government district with borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Lancashire, England. Its council is based in Bacup and its largest town is Rawtenstall. It also includes the tow ...

in south-eastern

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

. The turbines are visible from as far away as south

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

, away. A protest group was formed to resist the proposed construction, and attracted support from the botanist and environmental campaigner

David Bellamy David James Bellamy (18 January 1933 – 11 December 2019) was an English academic, botanist, television presenter, author and prominent environmental campaigner in the UK and globally. His distinctive, energetic style of presenting became wel ...

. Despite the opposition,

planning permission Planning permission or building permit refers to the approval needed for construction or expansion (including significant renovation), and sometimes for demolition, in some jurisdictions. House building permits, for example, are subject to buil ...

was granted in 2005 and construction began in 2007. Although work on the project was hampered by harsh weather, difficult terrain, and previous mining activity, the wind farm was officially opened on 25 September 2008 after "years of controversy", at a cost of £50 million. In 2012 Peel Energy sold its 50% share in the facility to

Munich Re Munich Re Group or Munich Reinsurance Company () is a German Multinational corporation, multinational insurance company based in Munich, Germany. It is the world's largest reinsurance, reinsurer. ERGO Insurance Group, ERGO, a subsidiary of Munich ...

's asset management division MEAG. The other 50% holding was also purchased by MEAG from

HgCapital Hg is a London, England-based private equity firm targeting technology buyouts primarily in Europe and the US. The company focuses on investments in technology and services sectors. Hg was founded in 2000. History Hg began life as Mercury Private ...

Renewable Power Partners. In November 2024
Cubico Sustainable Investments
unveiled plans to expand Scout Moor Wind Farm with 21 new turbines, aiming to generate over 100 MW of electricity. This expansion would make Scout Moor the largest onshore wind farm in England. The project would power 100,000 homes and contribute over 10% of Greater Manchester's domestic energy needs, marking a key step toward the UK's goal of doubling onshore wind capacity by 2030.

Geography

Scout Moor is an upland moor of

peat bog A bog or bogland is a wetland that accumulates peat as a deposit of dead plant materials often mosses, typically sphagnum moss. It is one of the four main types of wetlands. Other names for bogs include mire, mosses, quagmire, and muske ...

and heather in the

South Pennines The South Pennines is a region of moorland and hill country in northern England lying towards the southern end of the Pennines. In the west it includes the Rossendale Valley and the West Pennine Moors. It is bounded by the Greater Manchester co ...

, reaching a maximum elevation of at its peak, Top of Leach. The underlying geology – a mixture of hard rock and soft shales – broadly belongs to the

Lower Coal Measures Lower may refer to: * ''Lower'' (album), 2025 album by Benjamin Booker *Lower (surname) *Lower Township, New Jersey *Lower Receiver (firearms) *Lower Wick Lower Wick is a small hamlet located in the county of Gloucestershire, England. It is sit ...

. The rock and shales weather at different rates, giving the area a landscape of "steep escarpments separated by sloping shelves", although the main dome of the moor is flat and rounded.Sellers (1991) p. 12. The moorland covers an area of about , of which less than , about 2%, is occupied by the wind farm. Scout Moor Wind Farm panorama from Peel Monument

Scout Moor Wind Farm panorama from Peel Monument

Scout Moor Quarry, a open-pit mine in

, is used for the extraction of

gritstone Gritstone or grit is a hard, coarse-grained, siliceous sandstone. This term is especially applied to such sandstones that are quarried for building material. British gritstone was used for millstones to mill flour, to grind wood into pulp for ...

and

sandstone Sandstone is a Clastic rock#Sedimentary clastic rocks, clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of grain size, sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate mineral, silicate grains, Cementation (geology), cemented together by another mineral. Sand ...

, and formerly had its own railway line. The eastern fringe of Scout Moor Wind Farm extends to

Hail Storm Hill Hail Storm Hill, also known as Cowpe Moss, is the highest point of the Rossendale Valley, England, an area of moorland and hill country situated between the West Pennine Moors and the South Pennines. It is wholly within Lancashire, although the ...

(also known as Cowpe Moss), one of the 180 Marilyns of England. The presence of coal under Scout Moor led to extensive and unrecorded shallow coal mining in the area during the 18th and 19th centuries.

Adit An adit (from Latin ''aditus'', entrance) or stulm is a horizontal or nearly horizontal passage to an underground mine. Miners can use adits for access, drainage, ventilation, and extracting minerals at the lowest convenient level. Adits are a ...

s, shafts and coal seams from that period mark the landscape.

History

One meaning of ''scout'' is a long ridge of rock, appearing to "shoot out" horizontally. The word is thought to be a corruption of the

Old English Old English ( or , or ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. It developed from the languages brought to Great Britain by Anglo-S ...

''sceot'', meaning "shot" or "to shoot", suggesting

Anglo-Saxon The Anglo-Saxons, in some contexts simply called Saxons or the English, were a Cultural identity, cultural group who spoke Old English and inhabited much of what is now England and south-eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. They traced t ...

settlement in the locality at a very ancient time.Chetham Society (1856
p. 260
Although the UK Government has set a target of 10% for the proportion of the UK's electricity produced by

renewable energy Renewable energy (also called green energy) is energy made from renewable resource, renewable natural resources that are replenished on a human lifetime, human timescale. The most widely used renewable energy types are solar energy, wind pow ...

by 2010, wind power in the UK has a long history of controversy, with an average approval rate for planning permission of only 28% for onshore wind farms. Scout Moor was first identified as an excellent site for a wind farm in 2001. Peel Holdings commissioned market research consultants

MORI Mori is a Japanese and Italian surname. It is also the name of two clans in Japan, and one clan in India. Italian surname * Camilo Mori, Chilean painter * Cesare Mori, Italian "Iron Prefect" * Claudia Mori, Italian actress, singer, televisio ...

to undertake a telephone poll over seventeen days in 2002, soliciting the opinions of residents in Bury, Rossendale and Rochdale about wind farms in general and Scout Moor in particular. The results showed that 88% of respondents thought wind farms were a very or fairly good idea, 72% thought the Scout Moor project was a very or fairly good idea, and 63% stated wind power as the preferred energy source. The proposal to build a wind farm, in a joint venture between

United Utilities United Utilities Group plc (UU) is the United Kingdom's largest listed water company. It was founded in 1995 as a result of the merger of North West Water and NORWEB. The group manages the regulated water and waste water network in North West En ...

and Peel Holdings, was announced in 2003. Shortly afterwards a

pressure group Advocacy groups, also known as lobby groups, interest groups, special interest groups, pressure groups, or public associations, use various forms of advocacy or lobbying to influence public opinion and ultimately public policy. They play an impor ...

, The Friends of Scout and Knowle Moor, was formed, and on 9 September 2003 representatives of the group attended a meeting of the

Metropolitan Borough of Bury The Metropolitan Borough of Bury is a metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester in England. It is north of Manchester, to the east of Bolton and west of Rochdale. The borough is centred around the town of Bury, Greater Manchester, Bury but also ...

's,

Ramsbottom Ramsbottom is a market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Bury, Greater Manchester, England. The population at the 2011 census was 17,872. Historically in Lancashire, it lies on the River Irwell in the West Pennine Moors, north-west of Bur ...

and Tottington Area Board to oppose the plans. At the meeting, the spokesperson for the group said that, although they supported the use of alternative energy, they felt that this was the wrong area. Among the objections were that the scheme was contrary to the

Unitary Development Plan In United Kingdom planning law, a unitary development plan (UDP) is a development plan prepared by a metropolitan district, London Borough or some unitary local authorities. Background UDPs contains policies equivalent to those in both a struc ...

and the

Green Belt A green belt or greenbelt is a policy, and land-use zone designation used in land-use planning to retain areas of largely undeveloped, wilderness, wild, or agricultural landscape, land surrounding or neighboring urban areas. Similar concepts ...

, and would adversely affect

common land Common land is collective land (sometimes only open to those whose nation governs the land) in which all persons have certain common rights, such as to allow their livestock to graze upon it, to collect wood, or to cut turf for fuel. A person ...

, open countryside and areas of ecological importance and special landscape value. The group also considered that the proposed development would be out of scale with the landscape, adversely affecting peat, water courses and wildlife, and would have a seriously detrimental visual impact, as well as causing a noise nuisance. The second presentation was given by a representative of Scout Moor Wind Farm, who argued the need for Britain to produce clean green power without harmful emissions, to counter the increasing dangers of global warming. He went on to say that the UK has fewer wind farms than other major industrial countries in Europe, even though it is a windier country, and that

North West England North West England is one of nine official regions of England and consists of the ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial counties of Cheshire, Cumbria, Greater Manchester, Lancashire and Merseyside. The North West had a population of 7,4 ...

has a particularly poor record, with only 1.3% of electricity generated from renewable energy. Following this meeting the campaign to oppose the proposal gathered momentum, and in November 2003 a protest was held on the moor, led by environmental campaigner Professor

Although Bury Metropolitan Borough Council supported the proposal, objections were raised by

Lancashire County Council Lancashire County Council is the upper-tier local authority for the non-metropolitan county of Lancashire, England. The non-metropolitan county of Lancashire is smaller than the ceremonial county, which additionally includes Blackburn with Dar ...

, Rochdale Metropolitan Borough Council and Rossendale Borough Council, and a public enquiry was held in November and December 2004. The

Secretary of State for Trade and Industry The secretary of state for business and trade (business secretary), is a Secretary of State (United Kingdom), secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, with responsibility for the Department for Business and Trade. The incumb ...

gave formal consent to the application for the development of the wind farm in May 2005, by which time United Utilities had sold their share in the project and ended their involvement. A number of conditions were imposed: On 20 April 2006,

Janet Anderson Janet Anderson (6 December 1949 – 6 February 2023) was a British politician from the Labour Party. She was Member of Parliament (MP) for Rossendale and Darwen from 1992 until 2010, when she lost her seat. She was the Minister for Tourism f ...

( Member of Parliament for Rossendale and Darwen) asked

Margaret Beckett Margaret Mary Beckett, Baroness Beckett, (; born 15 January 1943), is a British politician. She was a member of Parliament (MP) for more than 45 years, first from 1974 to 1979 and then from 1983 to 2024. A member of the Labour Party, she was ...

, then

Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs The secretary of state for environment, food and rural affairs, also referred to as the environment secretary, is a Secretary of State (United Kingdom), secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, with overall responsibility for ...

, whether the development would meet the provisions of the Commons Bill regarding the protection of and public access to

. The reply from

Jim Knight James Philip Knight, Baron Knight of Weymouth, (born 6 March 1965) is a British politician who served as Minister for the South West and Minister of State for Employment and Welfare Reform from 2009 to 2010. A member of the Labour Party and ...

, (Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Rural Affairs, Landscape and Biodiversity) was that;

Construction

The detailed design for the project was completed during summer 2006 and construction began in January 2007. The first task was to build a stable access road, but the moor was covered in a layer of peat with a low load-bearing capacity. The whole area had also been subjected to extensive coal mining during the 19th and early 20th centuries, so there was a potential for

subsidence Subsidence is a general term for downward vertical movement of the Earth's surface, which can be caused by both natural processes and human activities. Subsidence involves little or no horizontal movement, which distinguishes it from slope mov ...

. To address these problems, the mining voids were

grout Grout is a dense substance that flows like a liquid yet hardens upon application, often used to fill gaps or to function as reinforcement in existing structures. Grout is generally a mixture of water, cement, and sand, and is frequently employe ...

ed and a floating road was constructed, using a complex system of

geotextiles Geotextiles are versatile permeable fabrics that, when used in conjunction with soil, can effectively perform multiple functions, including separation, filtration, reinforcement, protection, and drainage. Typically crafted from polypropylene or ...

and

geogrids A geogrid is geosynthetic material used to reinforce soils and similar materials. Soils pull apart under tension. Compared to soil, geogrids are strong in tension. This fact allows them to transfer forces to a larger area of soil than would other ...

to prevent the road from sinking. This was achieved by laying a crushed-gravel base, reinforced with polyester and polypropylene grids, to bridge any potential mine voids and ensure that the weak shear strength of the subsoil was exceeded by the base course material. The wind turbines arrived at Scout Moor in parts, transported by

large goods vehicle A large goods vehicle (LGV), or heavy goods vehicle (HGV), in the European Union (EU) is any lorry with a Gross combined weight rating, gross combination mass (GCM) of over . Sub-category N2 is used for vehicles between 3,500 kg and and N ...

s along the

M66 motorway The M66, also known as the Bury Easterly Bypass, is a motorway in Lancashire and Greater Manchester, England. It is long and provides part of the route between the M62 motorway, M62 and M60 motorway, M60 motorways and the M65 motorway, M65, wi ...

as part of a 76-day-long convoy of delivery. The weather constrained the wind farm's construction for the teams from contractor McNicholas and German turbine supplier Nordex. During the final stages, the project manager for McNicholas was quoted as saying: The wind farm, which stretches across nearly of open

between Edenfield, Rawtenstall and Rochdale, was officially opened on 25 September 2008. and was at that time the largest onshore wind farm in England. As of 26 August 2008, 21 of 26 turbines had been commissioned and 4,000

of electricity had been exported to the National Grid. The turbines are visible from south Manchester, away, and are expected to produce enough electricity to meet the needs of 40,000 average homes. Scout Moor has the capacity to produce a total of 65 MW, compared with the 90 MW capacity of Kentish Flats, the United Kingdom's largest offshore wind farm. The total cost of the Scout Moor project was £50 million, but Peel Holdings expect the turbines to be in operation for at least 25 years. Since its opening, the wind farm "has become a real tourist attraction"; a calendar showing photographs of the wind farm's construction has been featured in local news stories.

Future plans

Over the lifetime of the wind farm, Peel Holdings' energy

subsidiary A subsidiary, subsidiary company, or daughter company is a company (law), company completely or partially owned or controlled by another company, called the parent company or holding company, which has legal and financial control over the subsidia ...

, Peel Wind Power Ltd, will provide up to £500,000 to help landowners create

biodiverse Biodiversity is the variability of life on Earth. It can be measured on various levels. There is for example genetic variability, species diversity, ecosystem diversity and phylogenetic diversity. Diversity is not distributed evenly on Earth ...

areas on the land surrounding the moor. A prime target habitat envisaged to be enhanced and re-created under the Habitat Enhancement Plan is upland

blanket bog Blanket bog or blanket mire, also known as featherbed bog, is an area of peatland, forming where there is a climate of high rainfall and a low level of evapotranspiration, allowing peat to develop not only in wet hollows but over large expanses ...

and important habitats for

skylark ''Alauda'' is a genus of larks found across much of Europe, Asia and in the mountains of north Africa, and one of the species (the Raso lark) endemic to the islet of Raso in the Cape Verde Islands Cape Verde or Cabo Verde, officially ...

s and

wading birds Birders in Canada and the United States refer to several families of long-legged wading birds in semi-aquatic ecosystems as waders. These include the families Phoenicopteridae (flamingos), Ciconiidae (storks), Threskiornithidae (ibises and s ...

on the moorland fringe. To receive funding, landowners within an identified area will need to apply to a panel made up of representatives from Peel, the local authorities and independent ecological experts. This panel will meet regularly throughout the year. Peel Wind Power are members of

RenewableUK RenewableUK, formerly known as the British Wind Energy Association (BWEA), is the trade association for wind power, wave power and tidal power industries in the United Kingdom. History A number of universities active in wind energy in the 1970s m ...

and state in their member's profile that they are actively seeking new opportunities in the renewable energy sector. In November 2008, the company announced a two-year agreement to look at developing wind farms on land owned by

UK Coal UK Coal Production Ltd, formerly UK Coal plc, was the largest coal mining business in the United Kingdom. The company was based in Harworth, in Nottinghamshire. The company was a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index. The successor company that c ...

. If the 14 sites encompassed by the agreement were successfully developed, they would have the potential for 54 wind turbines generating up to 133 megawatts of power. Peel Energy director Steven Underwood said: "This agreement is an important step for Peel Energy, significantly expanding its onshore pipeline and gaining access to some of the UK's best potential wind farm locations." The Peel group holds a 28% stake in UK Coal. At a private meeting held in May 2007 between developers, EnergieKontor UK, and invited local councillors, plans were put forward for another large wind farm consisting of 24 turbines on the moors above nearby Haslingden, spanning Thirteen Stone Hill and

Oswaldtwistle Oswaldtwistle ( "ozwel twizzel") is a town in the Hyndburn borough of Lancashire, England, southeast of Blackburn, contiguous with Accrington. The town has a rich industrial heritage, being home to James Hargreaves, inventor of the spinning j ...

Moor. Following the meeting Catherine Pilling, a Rossendale

Liberal Democrat Several political parties from around the world have been called the Liberal Democratic Party, Democratic Liberal Party or Liberal Democrats. These parties have usually followed liberalism as ideology, although they can vary widely from very progr ...

councillor, expressed her view that the natural beauty of the

Rossendale Valley The Rossendale Valley is in the Rossendale area of Lancashire, England, between the West Pennine Moors and the main range of the Pennines. The area includes the steep-sided valleys of the River Irwell and its tributaries (between Rawtenstall an ...

was under threat as it was increasingly being targeted by wind farm developers. "Our party is very much in favour of renewable energy," she said, "but Rossendale is an area of outstanding beauty, and you have to ask: Would they be building a similar thing in the

Lake District The Lake District, also known as ''the Lakes'' or ''Lakeland'', is a mountainous region and National parks of the United Kingdom, national park in Cumbria, North West England. It is famous for its landscape, including its lakes, coast, and mou ...

?" Rossendale Borough Council leader Duncan Ruddick representing the

electoral ward A ward is a local authority area, typically used for electoral purposes. In some countries, wards are usually named after neighbourhoods, thoroughfares, parishes, landmarks, geographical features and in some cases historical figures connected t ...

of Worsley in Rossendale, the proposed site of the new wind farm, said he was against wind farms and would be campaigning against it and speaking at the Development Control committee when it came. The leader of the Labour local councillors was also opposed to the plan, saying that he was concerned about the size of the turbines and that the visual impact on the "beautiful

West Pennine Moors The West Pennine Moors is an area of the Pennines covering approximately of moorland and Reservoir (water), reservoirs in Lancashire and Greater Manchester, England. It is a Site of Special Scientific Interest. The West Pennine Moors are separa ...

" would be devastating. Planning permission for the development was granted by

Hyndburn Hyndburn is a Non-metropolitan district, local government district with borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Lancashire, England. Its council is based in Accrington, the largest town, and the borough also covers the outlying ...

Council in March 2010. In August 2015 planning permission was granted by Rossendale Borough Council's development control committee to add a further 14 turbines at Scout Moor to create what is believed would be England's largest onshore wind farm, but the plans drew many objections from residents and two petitions were launched by local MPs opposing the scheme. In 2017 The Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government Sajid Javid MP overruled Rossendale council's decision but said he was "minded to approve" two additional turbines in Rochdale with a maximum height of 115 metres, subject to conditions, which would potentially enlarge Scout Moor to 28 turbines. In November 2024, Cubico Sustainable Investments announced plans to expand the existing Scout Moor Wind Farm, aiming to construct 21 additional turbines. This expansion would generate over 100 megawatts of electricity, sufficient to power approximately 100,000 homes and meet more than 10% of Greater Manchester's domestic energy needs. The project represents a significant step toward achieving the UK government's target of doubling onshore wind capacity by 2030 and is the first English wind farm to progress since the end of the de facto ban.

Specifications

Capacity factor

As the figures given in the table above were published before the turbines had been operational for a full year they are projected rather than recorded figures. Wind speed is not constant, therefore a wind farm's annual energy production never achieves the sum of the generator nameplate ratings multiplied by the total hours in a year. The ratio of actual productivity in a year to this theoretical maximum is called the capacity factor. Typical capacity factors are 20–40%, with values at the upper end of the range achieved on particularly favourable sites. The expected capacity factor for Scout Moor Wind Farm, calculated from the company's projected figures, is 27%. The actual capacity factor calculated from data published by

OFGEM The Office of Gas and Electricity Markets (Ofgem) is the government regulator for the electricity and downstream natural gas markets in Great Britain. It was formed by the merger of the Office of Electricity Regulation (OFFER) and Office of G ...

for January 2012 to December 2014 (three years of data) was 29.08%.

References

Notes

Bibliography

* *

External links

www.scoutmoorwindfarm.co.uk
, official website. * https://www.manchesterclimate.com/news, climate change news for Greater Manchester.
www.geograph.org.uk
Paul Anderson's Scout Moor construction picture gallery. {{DEFAULTSORT:Scout Moor Wind Farm Power stations in North West England Wind farms in England The Peel Group Buildings and structures in the Borough of Rossendale Buildings and structures in the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale