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EDINBURGH, Scotland, May 03, 2006 (Refocus
Weekly)
The Scottish Executive has granted permission to
build the largest onshore windfarm in Europe, where 140 turbines
will generate green power for 200,000 homes.
The 322 MW Whitelee facility, to be sited south of Glasgow, will
be built by ScottishPower at a cost of £300 million. It will be the
company's second large windfarm in Scotland's central belt when it
enters full operation in 2009, and will provide 2% of Scotland's
electricity needs in a typical year.
“This is another huge step forward for clean, green renewable energy
generation in Scotland,” says deputy enterprise minister Allan
Wilson. “Whitelee is the largest single onshore windfarm to be
consented in Europe and is a significant milestone towards achieving
our renewable energy and climate change targets.”
“We are strongly committed to the continued development of a diverse
renewable energy portfolio in this country and there are many more
proposed projects in the pipeline, including biomass, wave and hydro
power,” he adds. “In bringing forward our Renewables Obligation
plans, the Executive aims to meet a target that 18% of electricity
generated in Scotland should come from renewable sources by 2010 and
40% by 2020.”
“We are already well on target to surpass the 2010 target, and this
single development equates to over 5% of the capacity needed to hit
our 2020 target,” he says. The Whitelee facility will also displace
the annual emission of 650,000 tonnes of CO2.
The development had raised concerns with its possible impact on two
nearby weather stations and the potential to produce images on air
traffic radar screens at Glasgow Airport. Following public
consultation and negotiations with British Aviation Authority as
part of a five-year planning process, ScottishPower will build a new
radar tower at one of its former power station at Kincardine in
Fife, and will move the Met Office's weather radar to new locations.
“This project is of national importance and would make a significant
contribution towards Scotland's renewable energy target for 2010,”
says chief executive Philip Bowman, and will be “another excellent
example of how large projects can be developed close to population
centres, existing electricity grid and road infrastructure.”
“The successful development of Whitelee highlights the importance of
clarity and consistency from the government in the operation of its
Renewables Obligation,” he adds. “It is vital that the integrity of
the RO policy and its implementation remains intact; otherwise,
investment confidence will be damaged and the UK's renewables'
target threatened.”
The Whitelee site is on elevated ground south of East Kilbride, and
will occupy 55 km² of open moor land and commercial forestry near
the Corse, Drumduff and Myres Hills. Construction will start this
summer, with the first turbines arriving in late 2007 and the first
units becoming operational in 2008. The entire facility is expected
to be completed by summer 2009.
“This fantastic news is a further sign that onshore wind is
delivering and should give confidence to the government to commit to
expanding the role of wind and renewables in the ongoing Energy
Review,” says Marcus Rand of the British Wind Energy Association.
“Wind, both on and offshore, represents our best chance of
delivering significant quantities of carbon free power by 2015 and
this project will be an essential part of that delivery.”
ScottishPower is already the largest generator of wind power in the
U.K. with 288 MW in operation and another 75 MW under construction.
It wants to increase its capacity of green power, mainly wind, to
1,000 MW in the U.K. by 2010 and to secure at least 2,300 MW of new
renewables capacity in the United States over the same period. It
recently sold PacifiCorp to MidAmerican Energy Holdings for US$5.1
billion.
Currently, there are 125 windfarms in Britain, of which four are
sited offshore, generating 4.2 TWh of electricity, equivalent to 1%
of total supply. There are 24 windfarms (including two offshore)
with 581 MW of capacity currently under construction for
commissioning this year.
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