
Natural Power has been selected as a finalist in two categories, ‘Small Planning Consultancy of the Year’ and ‘Excellence in Planning for the Innovative Delivery of Infrastructure’ at the Royal Town Planning Institute’s Awards for Planning Excellence 2017.
Natural Power has been operating for 21 years, with its global headquarters based in Dumfries and Galloway.
With expertise of the entire renewable energy development cycle including Environmental Impact Assessment, planning and consent management, Natural Power has delivered more than 3GW worth of consents for renewable energy developments on behalf of its clients.
In addition, Natural Power has also been shortlisted in the category for Excellence in Planning for the Innovative Delivery of Infrastructure which included securing what is believed to be the world’s first planning consent for deployment of kite-based renewable electricity generation.
The application was made on behalf of Kite Power Solutions to utilise an area of ground at the Ministry of Defence (MoD) West Freugh Range, operated by QinetiQ on behalf of MoD, near Stranraer, for research and development purposes of an innovative and emerging wind energy technology utilising kites.
Key elements of the project involved project management, ecological and environmental assessment including review under the Habitats Regulations, preparation of material in support of the application including a supporting statement, maps, plans, diagrams and stakeholder consultation that were all necessary to address the issues raised by the proposed use of Kite Power systems at the West Freugh Range.