Blow to community groups as Trust halts wind farm output.

This announcement comes as a result of the loss of the subsea cable linking Lewis and Harris to the mainland.

Last week, electricity company,  Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks confirmed that the 33k volt transmission cable linking the islands to the mainland cannot be repaired and it has started the process of procuring a full replacement of the 32km cable.

But, while power stations on Lewis have kicked-in to generate power for the community, island-based wind farms that rely on the link to export the power they generate to the mainland have been left with no replacement connection until the cable is fully restored.

The Trust distributes the funds it raises through its wind farm operations as a charitable trust supporting local projects.

Calum Macdonald, of Point and Sandwick Trust’s wind farm at Beinn Ghrideag, said: “We haven’t been able to produce any output since the cable went down and it now looks like we won’t be able to for up to 12 months, according to SSE.

“That means we will not be earning any income over these 12 months.

“That obviously has serious consequences for the money we give out to the various projects that we support, so we will need to work out the best way forward for this difficult period.”