Sixty students from Argyll will be supported in the 2017 – 18 academic year, up from the thirty-nine young people funded in 2016-17, through £63k of support grants from the Educational Trust established by the landowning partners in the Allt Dearg and Sròndoire Community Wind Farms .

The final restoration works on the Allt Dearg Wind Farm were concluded in November. Darren Lowe of George McNaughton and Son, the Lochgilphead based firm that built the roads and supporting infrastructure at Allt Dearg and Srondoire Wind Farms, was the first person to start work on the survey road in February 2011. Nearly seven years later Darren was back on site to put the finishing landscaping touches to the main borrow pit, which provided most of the road stone used on site.

The community owned wind farms are now helping to pay the pensions of university staff across the UK.

Two new Vestas wind turbine technicians have started work at Allt Dearg and Srondoire Wind Farms. James Armour and Robbie McTaggart have recently been recruited by Vestas to replace the previous site crew, who have left Vestas Celtic and have moved on to Vestas offshore turbines. James and Robbie are both local boys from Campbeltown, and are presently undergoing the training required to take on our V52 and V80 turbines.

Allt Dearg and Sròndoire Community Wind Farms will be operating the popular wind farm bus tour through the summer on four Saturday mornings.

Argyll & Bute Council have published details of the Community Benefit payments made by Argyll's Wind Farms in 2016. For the fourth consecutive year Allt Dearg wind farm has set the highest standard for community benefit paid out in Argyll, both in terms of absolute amount and Pounds per MW installed. Whilst Allt Dearg and Sròndoire together represent just over 5% of the county's installed generation capacity, the community and locally owned wind farms contributed over 32% of the total direct community benefit paid out in Argyll.

Thirty-nine young people from Argyll will shortly be receiving the first installment of their 2016-17 support grant from the Educational Trust established by the landowning partners in the Allt Dearg and Sròndoire Community Wind Farms .

Argyll & Bute Council have released data on the Community Benefit payments made by Argyll's Wind Farms in 2015. Whilst Allt Dearg wind farm represents under 5% of the county's installed generation capacity, the community and locally owned wind farm contributes over 33% of the total direct community benefit paid out in Argyll.

The Allt Dearg Community Wind Farm which is partly owned by the Ardrishaig community, has beaten the previous highest level of annual energy generation to set a new site generation record in 2015.

This week's windy weather has provided ideal conditions to put the three Sròndoire turbines through their final endurance tests.