A conservation charity has condemned large-scale wind developments in the Western Isles as being 'uneconomic'.

The John Muir Trust urged the government to focus green energy generation near the populations where it is most needed.

The comments came as a public Inquiry into the Beinn Mhor Power proposal for a 53-turbine development at the Eisgein Estate in Lewis came to an end.

"At the moment large scale wind developments on the Western Isles are costly, inefficient and hugely damaging for one of Scotland’s most spectacular areas of wild land,” said Helen McDade, Head of Policy for the John Muir Trust.

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“It is high time that the government woke up to the fact that we should be generating our power closer to home rather than artificially subsidising an otherwise doomed industry."

The Trust estimates that the interconnector that is needed between Lewis and the mainland to build the Beinn Mhor wind farm increases the development’s capital costs by at least 40%.

Although wind turbines are estimated to generate 15% to 20% more energy in the Western Isles than in the Central Belt the costs of transmission, including the lost energy from having to transport it such large distances, more than outweighs this advantage. The extra costs will have to be passed on to consumers.

Large-scale wind developments on the Western Isles, which require a new interconnector, are only made viable because transmission is subsidised by electricity consumers. The developers won’t pay the full costs: "This is a vastly expensive and hugely wasteful way of going about generating our renewable energy," commented Ms McDade.

(NS)