Wednesday January 7th 2026
Montage of turbines at Crystal Rig 1 Farm in the Lammermuir Hills (Photo by Fred Olsen Renewables).
Written by Local Democracy Reporter, Marie Sharp
New wind turbines as tall as some of the world’s biggest skyscrapers have sparked concerns they will be too big to transport in the East Lothian countryside.
Fred Olsen Renewables is looking to replace the original turbines at its Crystal Rig 1 wind farm with ones which are more than double the their size, but East Lothian planners have raised concerns the access roads to the site in the Lammermuir Hills won’t be able to cope with the blades which will have a span of 80 metres.
Crystal Rig 1 was the largest wind farm in Scotland when it began operating in 2003 and its original turbines are due to be decommissioned in 2028.
The operators have applied to the Scottish Government’s Energy Consent Unit to replace them with 10 new turbines which will be up to 230 metres in height – compared to the 100 metre height of the originals.
A report due to go before East Lothian Council’s planning committee next week raises concerns about the size of the new turbines which stand at a height equal to some of the world’s tallest skyscrapers including London’s Heron Tower, the Torre Emperador in Madrid and the Unicredit Tower in Milan.
Councillors are being asked to back officers objections to the plans to repower Crystal Rig 1 with the new turbines.
In a report to elected members officers say that while the land where the turbines will be built is across the county line into Scottish Borders the access roads and important sight lines from the Lammermuirs lie in East Lothian.
They say the proposals involve using existing access roads which were used for the construction of the first wind farm there is an additional land grab of up to 81 hectares of prime agricultural land with not enough detail on how it will be used.
And they say the council’s roads department had raised various concerns about the plans “most notably that the developer has not demonstrated that the public access road arrangements are either practical or achievable to accommodate the delivery of 80m blades”.
Officers also recommend objecting to the plans over the impact on the countryside with the landscape officer raising concerns.
The report says: “The proposed turbines are overly large for the Lammermuir Hills’ character, even with suggested reductions; and the current design would dominate the landscape and create a significant visual contrast with existing schemes.”
They also raise concerns the new turbines will require additional aviation lighting which will impact the sight and surrounding homes.
Councillors will be asked to support the formal response to the application at a meeting next week which will pass on their objections to the Energy Consent Unit.
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