The final section of Europe’s largest onshore wind farm is officially switched on today. The Whitelee development on Eaglesham Moor, just outside Glasgow in Scotland, is made up of 140 massive turbines and can produce enough clean green energy to power over 117,000 homes.
Director of ScottishPower Renewables Keith Anderson said Whitelee was a landmark for the country because of its size and scale.
“This is now the first over 300 MW wind farm in the UK and we believe others will follow” Keith Anderson, ScottishPower Renewables
But he said more work was needed on infrastructure to develop the industry, particularly to improve power grid connections and capacity to handle even larger offshore wind farms and wave and tidal projects.
More turbines to be added
And, in an announcement today, Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond said ScottishPower Renewables had been given permission to add a further 36 turbines to the site.
That will allow the £300m wind farm to power 250,000 homes and could create up to 300 jobs.
Mr Salmond was speaking as he officially switched on the 140-turbine Whitelee wind farm.
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Great news, and something to celebrate as it demonstrates the advances that can occur when our sites are set on expanding the use of renewable energy. We can only hope that other nations follow suit with similar projects of their own.
Very exciting, hope to see much more in the future.