Scotland to build onshore wind farm

SCOTTISH & Southern Energy, Britain’s second-biggest energy provider, got consent from Scottish ministers to develop Europe’s largest onshore wind farm.

The Clyde wind park, with a capacity of as much as 456 megawatts, will be built in two phases, the Perth, Scotland-based utility said yesterday. Construction will begin this financial year, with completion scheduled for 2011, it said.

The £600m (€755m) development, located between Biggar and Moffat in southern Scotland, came under the control of Scottish & Southern when it acquired Airtricity earlier this year.

It is estimated around half of the total investment will be placed with Scottish companies and over 200 full time jobs will be created during the three-year construction period.

Discussions have been held with South Lanarkshire Council and Scottish Enterprise Lanarkshire to maximise local supplier involvement in the construction and maintenance of the farm, which will eventually have up to 152 turbines.

Chief executive of SSE, Ian Marchant said: “I am very pleased that the Clyde wind farm has received consent. It is another example of the value of the Airtricity portfolio of renewable energy projects which we acquired earlier this year and provides us with another major investment opportunity.

“Projects like Clyde are essential if Scotland and the UK are to have any hope of meeting legally-binding EU targets for renewable energy. Scottish Ministers aim to make Scotland the green energy capital of Europe, and giving the Clyde wind farm consent is evidence of a willingness to take decisions which are consistent with that ambition.”