A new £50m wind farm has been officially opened at Edinbane on the Isle of Skye by Under-secretary of State for Scotland David Mundell.

The controversial scheme has been on the drawing board for two decades following a legal challenge from environmental objectors. The 18 turbine scheme will generate enough electricity to power twenty 2000 homes.

“I think it’s important Scotland has a mix of energy sources – a mix of renewable energy sources and of course, onshore wind has a very important part to play in that. I think it’s also important to mark that this is a very significant engineering development”, Mr Mundell.

In 2008 the Skye Wind Farm Action Group lost a court battle to prevent company Amec from erecting turbines at Edinbane citing conservation issues.

Amec were then bought out by Swedish firm Vattenfall who started construction later that year – it is their first on-land wind farm.

The villages of Edinbean and Struan will profit by around £80,000 a year through a community trust.

Cllr John Laingof Highland Council said: “This is tremendous for local communities and community benefit is something that we as a council very much welcome. It’s just a pity it wasn’t a bit more because the returns on these wind farms are huge and I think with hindseight we should have been a bit harder when we were negotiating but we are where we are and there’s always hope for the future.

George Campbell of the Edinbane Township Committee said: “We’ve done all we could to get as good a deal as possible for the local people and we hope the money come in will encourage young people eto stay in the township and be able to get a better standard of living. That was the aim when we started out.”