A giant malt supplier has pledged to address concerns over its Angus turbine bid following objections.
Richard Broadbent, from Bairds Malts, was speaking after The Courier revealed that opposition to the application was growing rapidly.
Residents, the Ministry of Defence and the council’s countryside officer have all raised concerns.
Many of the objections have cited potential noise pollution, visual impact and the effect on property values.
Mr Broadbent said: “The extensive noise assessment submitted to the council demonstrates that the project would meet approved guidelines and there would be no additional noise pollution.
“The project is predicted to meet background related constraints, therefore no mitigation is proposed.
“We do, however, understand that a number of local people will have concerns about a new development for our site and we will continue to consult on any plans and openly address any concerns raised going forward.”
Bairds Malt has 57 Angus employees and has supply contracts with more than 1,000 farms, 230 of them across the region.
The energy consumption of the plant on Elliot Industrial Estate in Arbroath costs the company £2.5 million per year and it believes a single turbine will safeguard jobs and significantly reduce the electricity consumption of the plant.
Mr Broadbent added: “We are a significant employer for many people in the locality and that’s why we want to make sure this is safeguarded in the future.
“With our plant operating 24/7, it has high energy demands, which means we’ve had to look at ways to reduce energy costs and the savings a single turbine will bring will help us secure the future of the facility.
“Bairds Malt have made sure that the plans we have put forward to the council for our single turbine are viable. The turbine would not detract from its surroundings as it would be situated on the south-west corner of the site and would also be partially screened by our existing buildings.”
The proposed single turbine would have a height of 252ft to tip.
The installed capacity of the turbine would be 900kW, which would produce in the region of 2.3GWh per year the equivalent of the annual energy usage of around 500 homes.
Bairds Malt first announced the plans for a medium-sized single turbine in summer 2013.
The company invited residents to two information days at the plant to answer any questions.