Abstract
In a decade, the contribution of wind power to UK electricity has grown from <1 to 10%, making wind energy the UK's single biggest source of renewable power. In 2015, almost a third of Scotland's electricity was provided by wind energy. A key tool in the development of onshore wind is Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA). The aim of EIA is to provide decision makers with knowledge of the likely significant effects of the proposed development. It is then for those decision makers to decide whether to grant planning permission for a project. For any project developer it is important to understand the concepts behind EIA and the role it plays in the development process. There are a number of key steps that must be undertaken and these are set out in this study. The study has a particular focus on the mitigation hierarchy of avoid, minimise and compensate. The preferred option is always to mitigate by design and a number of case studies have been provided to show how this can be achieved. A selection of software tools have been discussed which can help an EIA practitioner identify and present the results of the EIA in an easily understood manner.