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Two other wind farms at Aikengall in East Lothian are owned by a company called Community Windpower. According to Companies House, it was controlled by Swiss Renewable Energies based in Jersey until 31 May 2018. Altogether Scotland’s biggest 50 wind farms, ranked by the amount of electricity they are capable of generating, have 31 owners. Just 11 are owned in Scotland by Scottish companies. The remaining owners are in England (12), Spain (10), Norway (8), France (3), Germany (2) and elsewhere. Two Chinese companies, Gingko Tree Investment and Red Rock Power, have stakes in four wind farms. The analysis of wind farm ownership was carried out by renewable energy consultant, Helen Snodin, in conjunction with The Ferret. “The renewable energy sector is unrecognisable from its niche beginnings,” she said.
Ben Cowdock, of Transparency International, said: “Whilst the use of companies based in Britain’s Overseas Territories is not illegal, our research has shown that due to the anonymity they offer, they have been a tool of choice for those seeking to hide business arrangements. Previously, research by Transparency International UK has found 1,201 companies from six of the UK’s 14 Overseas Territories featured in 237 corruption cases amounting to hundreds of billions of pounds worth of funds allegedly diverted by rigged procurement, bribery, embezzlement and the unlawful acquisition of state assets. He added: “The British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands and Bermuda have now committed to publishing the names of company owners.
Nearly a third of Scotland’s biggest wind farms have owners with links to offshore tax havens in the Cayman Islands, Luxembourg, Guernsey and Jersey.
An investigation by The Ferret has also revealed that 39 of the largest 50 wind farms are ultimately owned outwith Scotland in England, Spain, France, Germany, Norway, China and elsewhere.
Campaigners allege that the wind industry’s tax havens have deprived public services of “many millions” of pounds, while boosting private profits. Scotland’s renewable energy wealth is being “looted” by international tax avoiders, and profits “siphoned overseas”, they say.
According to experts, wind farm ownership is “opaque” and “secretive”. The “bright green image” promoted by the renewable energy industry is “more a murky shade of grey”, says one.