The Scottish Government has blocked plans for a 24-turbine windfarm in the wild countryside featured in the TV blockbuster Outlander.
Nearly 1,000 people objected to proposals to site the 410ft tall devices on Rannoch Moor.
They would have been visible from more than 30 Munros and Corbetts, the iconic West Highland rail line and the A82 tourist route.
SNP ministers agreed with one of the objectors’ key arguments – that the applicant was not a “legal entity” when the plan was tabled.
The Talladh a Bheithe scheme would have stood between Loch Rannoch and Loch Ericht in an area of Scottish Natural Heritage-designated wild land which the government’s 2014 planning guidance aims to “better protect from development”.
The Energy and Climate Change Directorate noted that the application was received on June 23 last year, but the applicant was not registered as a company until August 28.
SNH and fellow statutory consultees, the Scottish Environment Protection Agency and the Cairngorms National Park Authority, all objected to the proposals.
Author Diana Gabaldon, whose books were the basis of the British-US-made Outlander drama, had warned it would be “insane to sacrifice one of Scotland’s most scenic landscapes for the sake of an electrical pittance”.
Tourism agency VisitScotland features Rannoch Moor on a map of “must see” destinations for fans of the TV show.
The Highland backdrop was the setting for tales about a World War II nurse, transported back to the strife-torn Scotland of 1743.
The show attracted millions of viewers and it has been worth millions of pounds to the Scottish economy.
Douglas Wynn, of local pressure group Keep Rannoch Wild, said: “I’m delighted, although part of me would have liked a day in court.”
Talladh a Bheithe Windfarm, the company behind the scheme, which promised a community windfall of about £375,000 per year, did not comment yesterday.
Wild land charity the John Muir Trust considered the scheme “a stab in the heart of Scotland’s natural beauty” and depicted the image in a specially created map.
Its policy chief, Helen McDade, said: “The decision will come as a huge relief to many in the local community who were horrified by the proposal.”
Dave Gordon, of the Mountaineering Council of Scotland, said: “We hope Rannoch is now free – forever – from the threat of wind turbines.”
Highlands anti-windfarm campaigner Lyndsey Ward said: “This is a shot across the bows of developers who try and play the system.
“It also begs the question – how on earth did this planning application get so far, costing so much time and so many thousands of our pounds?
“The Scottish Government should crack down on such flouting of the rules.”