Friday March 13th 2026
Borthwick Valley
Written by Local Democracy Reporter, Paul Kelly
An advanced engineering consultancy firm has refuted claims of a conflict of interest amid concerns over a controversial Borders windfarm.
Edinburgh-based Xi Engineering Consultants is providing detailed guidance to America’s largest renewable energy company, Invenergy, which is seeking permission for the controversial Mid Hill windfarm in the Borthwick Water Valley, south-west of Hawick.
Xi Engineering also advises the Scottish and UK government’s Eskdalemuir Working Group, funded partly by the renewable energy industry and partly by taxpayers.
A Freedom of Information response provided by the Scottish government’s energy directorate has revealed that Xi Engineering did not declare a conflict of interest when bidding for public sector contracts worth hundreds of thousands of pounds.
Sarah St Pierre, from the Borthwickwater Landscape Conservation Group, claims it was a “huge concern” that no such interest was declared.
That is a claim refuted by Xi Engineering CEO Mark-Paul Buckingham, who said his company’s work advising Scottish Government bodies pre-dates its technical consultancy engagement with Invenergy.
He said the two roles are “distinct in scope”, with the government work concerning the fundamental engineering question of how wind turbines affect seismic monitoring.
Meanwhile, the Invenergy engagement is standard technical consultancy work.
Mr Buckingham, who stated that “engineering does not take sides”, also emphasised that Xi has no advisory role on policy, no influence over planning outcomes, and no role in operating or influencing the Ministry of Defence’s seismic capacity allocation system.
Sarah St Pierre said: “The Scottish government, in its rush to build more and more wind-farms, is rubber-stamping almost every application, despite massive over-supply.
“Now it has emerged that a giant US energy company and the Scottish government are not only being advised by the same firm, Xi Engineering, but that firm did not declare a conflict of interest.
“It is of huge concern that the company which is providing the Scottish Government with the technical data to re-examine whether it’s appropriate to build wind farms in the 50km zone around the Eskdalemuir Seismic Array, should also be advising the company which has the most to gain if the exclusion zone is reduced. Where is the independent scrutiny?”
Chris Houston, co-chair of Borthwickwater Landscape Conservation Group, added: “We are consistently told by the Scottish government and the developers that local communities are at the heart of the decision making process, but our experience proves nothing is further from the truth.
“This points to a worrying lack of due process and a headlong drive to impose numerous brutal wind farm developments on communities that overwhelmingly reject them.”
Invenergy’s controversial Mid Hill windfarm proposes 13 turbines up to 200 metres tall, with potential to generate 94MW of electricity, plus a 53MW energy storage facility, access tracks and infrastructure.
The Ministry of Defence has lodged a formal objection to the scheme, warning that it poses an ‘unmanageable’ risk to the UK’s nuclear test monitoring capabilities and to military air operations.
The Mid Hill windfarm would be constructed within the safeguarding zone for the UK’s seismic array monitoring station at Eskdalemuir, with turbines planned between 15 km and 17 km from the globally significant facility.
The station, run by the Ministry of Defence and the only one in the UK, is part of a worldwide network used to detect nuclear tests and seismic activity anywhere in the world. It relies on an environment with minimal interference.
A 10 km exclusion zone and a 50 km safeguarding zone were established to prevent wind turbine development because the vibrations disrupt the collection of seismic data.
A decision on whether the exclusion zone around the Eskdalemuir Seismic Array should be reduced is expected in the coming weeks.
Founded in 2011, Xi Engineering Consultants is an advanced engineering consultancy specialising in vibration, acoustics, high-precision measurement and multi-physics simulation.
The company supports governments, regulators and industry by combining measurement, modelling and data analysis to provide robust technical evidence for complex infrastructure decisions.
Xi’s work around Eskdalemuir forms part of a long-standing programme of technical studies examining the seismic signatures produced by wind turbines and how these interact with sensitive monitoring infrastructure.
Mr Buckingham said the company’s role has always been to provide “objective engineering analysis”.
He added: “Xi Engineering exists to establish the facts. Our work is driven by measurement, physics and evidence – not by the interests of any individual organisation.
“The data is the data. Sometimes it supports development and sometimes it does not. Over many years we have provided expert technical evidence both for and against wind farm developments depending entirely on what the engineering analysis demonstrates.
“When dealing with nationally important infrastructure such as the Eskdalemuir Seismic Array, engineering work is subject to rigorous technical scrutiny by the Ministry of Defence and its specialist agencies.
“That process ensures the analysis is robust, transparent and independent. These are not organisations that accept anything other than rigorous, evidence-based work.
“Our responsibility is always to the evidence. Over the years we have provided analysis and expert testimony in situations where the conclusions supported different stakeholders – including at times government bodies and at other times developers.
“That is simply the reality of independent engineering work: the conclusions are determined by the data, not by who commissions the work.”
Xi Engineering emphasised that it does not determine planning outcomes or government policy.
Its role is strictly limited to providing measurement, modelling and engineering analysis so that decisions can be informed by reliable scientific evidence.
Mr Buckingham added: “Wind energy is an important part of the future energy system and we firmly believe wind farms can be a positive development. Like any major infrastructure, however, they must be located in the right place and designed properly. Engineering evidence is what helps ensure that happens.
“Good engineering does not take sides. Physics does not change depending on who asks the question. Our responsibility is simply to measure reality and report what the data shows so that others can make informed decisions.”
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