Scottish Power Renewables has just completed their winter peatland restoration programme, which has taken place on several of their sites. During the programme, they rolled out various techniques they'd been developing - testing them across multiple sites and at scale, with the following results:
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126 ha of blanket bog restoration from forestry plantation at Whitelee Windfarm using a combination of ground smoothing, cross-tracking and wave damming. Ground smoothing was used on most areas, with cross-tracking and wave damming used on areas that were checked lodgepole pine plantation resulting in small residual stumps that could be pressed in using just the weight of the excavator.
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21 km of blanket bog restoration from gripped open moorland at Whitelee Windfarm using wave damming. The techniques used followed the method developed last winter at Black Law Windfarm, with dams put in every four metres. Refinement of the technique reduced installation time to between 45-60 seconds per dam (previously 75-90 seconds per dam).
- 30 ha of blanket bog restoration from forestry plantation at Cruach Mhor Windfarm using a combination of ground smoothing, cross-tracking and wave damming. Wave damming of furrows and main drains was implemented in areas of double mouldboard ploughed forestry with small stump sizes, as ground smoothing was not effective. Ground smoothing was undertaken in areas with larger stumps and all areas that had been single mouldboard ploughed.
Photos L-R: Ground smoothing a Whitelee Windfarm; Cross-tracking at Whitelee Windfarm; Wave damming at Cruach Mhor Windfarm
Costs for these techniques worked out at £350/km of drain using wave damming and £850/ha of deforested bog restoration using ground smoothing.
For more information on these techniques, please see earlier article on wave damming here and here, and ground smoothing here.
